August 19, 2021 at 6:30 PM - Regular School Board Meeting

Description:  The Board Chair will call the meeting to order.

Description:  The Board Chair will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

Description:  The Board Chair will take roll call. A quorum must be established in order for the meeting to proceed.

Board Members:

Description:  Once quorum has been established the Board Chair will request approval of the revised meeting agenda.

Description:  The technology showcase will cover the results of the spring 2020 teacher survey on growth in programs/applications, program use, proficiency in program features, and how they learn new technology. The results of the survey were developed in Google Data Studio, a part of this presentation will feature Google Data Studio and how it will be used during the 2021-22 school year.

Description:  An opportunity for members of the community to address the Board.

Description:  A. Board Standing Committee Reports (minutes attached)
B. Board Representative Committee Reports
C. Student Representative Board Report
D. School Board Member Good News Report

Description:  Administration will provide an update to the School Board.

Description:  Superintendent Rudolph and Cambridge-Isanti Schools Policy Review Committee met and discussed a comparison between our current policy and MSBA's model policy for reference. Cabinet and the Administrative Team also had the opportunity to review the proposed policy changes and provide comments.  Upon consideration, the Policy Review Committee is recommending the Board approve the policy with modifications made in the attached policy.

Description:  Superintendent Rudolph and Cambridge-Isanti Schools Policy Review Committee met and discussed a comparison between our current policy and MSBA's model policy for reference. Cabinet and the Administrative Team also had the opportunity to review the proposed policy changes and provide comments.  Upon consideration, the Policy Review Committee is recommending the Board approve the policy with modifications made in the attached policy.

Description:  Superintendent Rudolph and Cambridge-Isanti Schools Policy Review Committee met and discussed a comparison between our current policy and MSBA's model policy for reference. Cabinet and the Administrative Team also had the opportunity to review the proposed policy changes and provide comments.  Upon consideration, the Policy Review Committee is recommending the Board approve the policy with modifications made in the attached policy.

Description:  Superintendent Rudolph and Cambridge-Isanti Schools Policy Review Committee met and discussed a comparison between our current policy and MSBA's model policy for reference. Cabinet and the Administrative Team also had the opportunity to review the proposed policy changes and provide comments.  Upon consideration, the Policy Review Committee is recommending the Board approve the policy with modifications made in the attached policy.

Description:  Superintendent Rudolph and Cambridge-Isanti Schools Policy Review Committee met and discussed a comparison between our current policy and MSBA's model policy for reference. Cabinet and the Administrative Team also had the opportunity to review the proposed policy changes and provide comments.  Upon consideration, the Policy Review Committee is recommending the Board approve the policy with modifications made in the attached policy.

Description:  In January 2021, the Cambridge-Isanti School District assembled a Community Task Force of 38 individuals representing parents, students, staff, teachers and administrators. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Task Force met virtually, monthly to identify, understand and explore solutions for the significant challenges district leaders face. 

The Community Task Force reviewed a range of district data, including financial reports, enrollment trends, curricular offerings and reductions, transportation, facilities and staffing data. Subgroups identified major challenges in four areas: District Finances, Operations, Facilities, and Teaching and Learning.

The Task Force has been actively involved in receiving the District’s 2020 Audit Report, reviewing budget reductions, studying transportation options, evaluating critical infrastructure and facility needs, discussing the need for an operating referendum and evaluating what is at stake if additional operating revenue is not secured. The Citizen’s Task Force has brought forth a recommendation that the Board hold an Operating Referendum this November.

Description: 
Any items board members wish to have considered as a separate action?

Board approval of consent agenda is needed.

Description:  Heidi Sprandel, Board Treasurer, will give recommendation for treasurer’s report subject to audit. The Board Treasurer and Director of Finance and Operations meet once a month to review the previous month’s financial activity. Reports that are reviewed are the treasurer’s report, payment registers, and employee reimbursement report.

Description:  Therefore the Director of Finance and Operations recommends the following resolution:

Description:  American Capital Financial Services was approved as the Chromebook Leasing Agent. As part of the district’s blended learning plan, 825 Chromebooks were purchased to replace iPads at the younger grades and obsolete Chromebooks at the older grades. The district is financing a portion of the purchase over a four-year term. The attached Schedule H is an amortization schedule that includes principal and interest payments. The administration recommends approval of the Schedule H

Description: 
WHEREAS, the mission of the Cambridge-Isanti Schools is to develop well-rounded individuals and responsible citizens who excel in leadership and achieve at the highest levels, which requires highly effective teachers and staff addressing the unique needs of each learner in partnership with parents, students and a unified community; and 

WHEREAS, strong communities have strong schools and protecting the values of Cambridge-Isanti Schools requires stable funding and operations at a time when state funding for education in Minnesota has not kept pace with inflation over the last decade and, according to a 2021 state education finance report, has lost 10% of its buying power since 2003; and

WHEREAS, Cambridge-Isanti Schools currently ranks in the bottom 7% of all Minnesota school districts in terms of per-student spending and funding; and 

WHEREAS, among area school districts (e.g. Mississippi 8 Conference) Cambridge-Isanti Schools rank last in per-student funding and last in per-student spending, resulting in larger class sizes, fewer career and technical opportunities, and fewer teachers, staff and critical supports for students; and

WHEREAS, high-quality teachers and staff are critical to high levels of student achievement and success, yet the district has had to cut 100 teaching and staff positions and reduce programs and services by $8.5 million over the last three years in order to balance its budget, resulting in larger class sizes and reduced opportunities and critical supports for students; and

WHEREAS, according to a 2020 Minnesota Department of Education report, the average voter-approved operating referendum in Minnesota is $864 per student; and 

WHEREAS, funding education in Minnesota is a shared responsibility requiring state, federal and local revenue, and Cambridge-Isanti Schools has gone without a local voter-approved operating referendum since 2004; and from 2003 to 2021, Minnesota’s general education basic revenue has fallen from 70% to 53% of all general education funding, and most Minnesota school districts have adopted a voter-approved operating referendum to fill the gap; and 

WHEREAS, our community faces critical workforce shortages including, but not limited to skilled trades, manufacturing, engineering, healthcare, and teaching, and our students need to be well educated and career-ready to fulfill the needs of our community and society; and

WHEREAS, if the district had a local voter-approved operating referendum, the district would unlock additional state aid and the state would pay 20% of the referendum amount (up to $460 per student) in equalization aid; and 

WHEREAS, without a local referendum, the district forfeits the equalization aid, which is a state appropriation, funded through state sales and income taxes, and those taxes are distributed to other communities and school districts; and 

WHEREAS, in 2021, the District expanded the school board’s Finance Committee to become a Citizens Financial Advisory Council and added community business leaders, to increase transparency, oversight and accountability for any future referendum proceeds, and the Board commits to continue maintaining that Citizens Financial Advisory Council over the duration of any approved referendum authorization; and
 
WHEREAS, a Citizens Task Force convened in January 2021 to examine district finances, facilities, operations and instructional areas; the Citizens Task Force found "a revenue problem" to be a significant barrier for the district in fulfilling its mission to provide a high-quality education to every Cambridge-Isanti student; and 

WHEREAS, the Citizens Task Force recommended that the School Board hold a referendum in November 2021 to increase its general education revenue by $565 per student, and use that revenue to hire and retain high-quality teachers and support students, which will help to reduce class size, maintain and improve student opportunities, and provide student supports; and  

WHEREAS, the Citizens Task Force further recommended that the School Board ask voters to approve a second question to further increase its general education revenue by $121 per student, and use that revenue to support vocational technical education and college readiness by maintaining and expanding vocational technical and career classes; increasing opportunities for students to earn college credits; adding apprenticeships; providing training and mentoring that prepare graduates for success in careers and college; and supporting the district’s K-12 student achievement goals; and

WHEREAS, if the proposed referendum is approved by voters, the School Board is committed to make reductions in other tax levies, which will reduce the tax impact from the proposed referendum; and
 
WHEREAS, if the proposed referendum is approved by voters, agricultural land will see a slight decrease in taxes with the School Board’s commitment to make reduction in other tax levies; and
 
WHEREAS, our children are the people who will carry our community forward; they will one day lead our cities, schools, businesses, churches, states, and nation; they are the future of our society, humanity is in their hands, and an educated citizenry is essential to a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the School Board of Independent School District No. 911, State of Minnesota, as follows:
1.    (a)       The Board hereby determines and declares that it is necessary and expedient for the school district to increase its general education revenue by $565 per adjusted pupil unit.  As provided by law, the ballot question must abbreviate the term "per adjusted pupil unit" as "per pupil." It is the present intention of the Board to use the additional revenue to hire and retain high-quality teachers and support students, and the property tax portion thereof will require an estimated referendum tax rate of approximately 0.09503% of the referendum market value of the school district for taxes payable in 2022, the first year it is to be levied. The proposed referendum revenue authorization would be applicable for ten (10) years unless otherwise revoked or reduced as provided by law. The question on the approval of this referendum revenue authorization shall be School District Question 1 on the school district ballot at the special election held to approve said authorization.

(b)    The Board hereby determines and declares that it is also necessary and expedient for the school district to increase its general education revenue by $121 per adjusted pupil unit.  As provided by law, the ballot question must abbreviate the term "per adjusted pupil unit" as "per pupil." It is the present intention of the Board to use the additional revenue to support vocational technology and college readiness and the property tax portion thereof will require an estimated referendum tax rate of approximately 0.0248% of the referendum market value of the school district for taxes payable in 2022, the first year it is to be levied.   The proposed referendum revenue authorization would be applicable for ten (10) years unless otherwise revoked or reduced as provided by law.   The question on the approval of this referendum revenue authorization shall be School District Question 2 on the school district ballot at the special election held to approve said authorization. The passage of said School District Question 2 shall be contingent upon the approval of School District Question 1 as described above and herein. 

2.    The ballot questions specified above shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the school district at a special election, which is hereby called and directed to be held on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, between the hours of 7:00 o'clock a.m. and 8:00 o'clock p.m.  This date is a uniform election date specified in Minnesota Statutes, Section 205A.05.

3.    The school district combined polling places and the precincts served by the combined polling places are hereby designated for this special election. 

4.    The clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause written notice of said special election to be given to the county auditor of each county in which the school district is located, in whole or in part, and to the Commissioner of Education, at least seventy-four (74) days prior to the date of said election.  The notice shall specify the date of said special election and the title and language for each ballot question to be voted on at said special election. Any notice given prior to the date of the adoption of this resolution is ratified and confirmed in all respects.

5.    The clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause notice of said special election to be posted at the administrative offices of the school district at least ten (10) days before the date of said special election.

The clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause a sample ballot to be posted at the administrative offices of the school district at least four (4) days before the date of said special election and to cause two sample ballots to be posted in the combined polling places on election day.  The sample ballots shall not be printed on the same color paper as the official ballot.

The clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause notice of said special election to be published in the official newspaper of the school district, for two (2) consecutive weeks with the last publication being at least one (1) week before the date of said election. The notice of election so posted and published shall state each question to be submitted to the voters as set forth in the form of ballot below, and shall include information concerning each established precinct and polling place.

The clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause the rules and instructions for use of the optical scan voting system to be posted in the combined polling places on election day.

The clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause a notice of the election to be mailed to each taxpayer in the school district at least fifteen (15) but no more than forty-five (45) days prior to the date of the special election.  The notice shall contain the required projections and the required statement specified in Minnesota Statutes, Section 126C.17, subdivision 9, paragraph (b).  The clerk is also directed to cause a copy of this notice to be submitted to the Commissioner of Education and to the county auditor of each county in which the school district is located in whole or in part at least fifteen (15) days prior to the day of the election.

6.    The clerk is authorized and directed to acquire and distribute such election materials and to take such other actions as may be necessary for the proper conduct of this special election and generally to cooperate with election authorities conducting other elections on that date.

7.    The clerk is further authorized and directed to cause ballots to be prepared for use at said election in substantially the following form, with such changes in form, color and instructions as may be necessary to accommodate an optical scan voting system:



Optical scan ballots must be printed in black ink on white material, except that marks to be read by the automatic tabulating equipment may be printed in another color ink.  The name of the precinct and machine-readable identification must be printed on each ballot.  Voting instructions must be printed at the top of the ballot on each side that includes ballot information.  The instructions must include an illustration of the proper mark to be used to indicate a vote.  Lines for initials of at least two election judges must be printed on one side of the ballot so that the judges’ initials are visible when the ballots are enclosed in a secrecy sleeve.
8.    If the school district will be contracting to print the ballots for this special election, the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to prepare instructions to the printer for layout of the ballot.  Before a contract in excess of $1,000 is awarded for printing ballots, the printer, at the request of the election official, shall furnish, in accordance with Minnesota Statutes, Section 204D.04, a sufficient bond, letter of credit or certified check acceptable to the clerk in an amount not less than $1,000 conditioned on printing the ballots in conformity with the Minnesota election law and the instructions delivered.  The clerk shall set the amount of the bond, letter of credit, or certified check in an amount equal to the value of the purchase.

9.    The clerk is hereby authorized and directed to provide for testing of the optical scan voting system within fourteen (14) days prior to the election date.  The clerk shall cause notice of the time and place of the test to be given at least two (2) days in advance by publishing the Notice of Testing once in the official newspaper and by causing the notice to be posted in the office of the County Auditor, the administrative offices of the school district, and the office of any other local election official conducting the test.

10.    The clerk is hereby authorized and directed to cause notice of the location of the counting center or the place where the ballots will be counted to be published in the official newspaper at least once during the week preceding the week of the election and in the newspaper of widest circulation once on the day preceding the election, or once the week preceding the election if the newspaper is a weekly.  

11.    As required by Minnesota Statutes, Section 203B.121, the Board hereby establishes a ballot board to process, accept and reject absentee ballots at school district elections not held in conjunction with the state primary or state general election or that are conducted by a municipality on behalf of the school district and generally to carry out the duties of a ballot board as provided by Section 203B.121 and other applicable laws.  The ballot board must consist of a sufficient number of election judges.  The ballot board may include deputy county auditors and deputy city clerks who have received training in the processing and counting of absentee ballots.  The clerk or the clerk's designee is hereby authorized and directed to appoint the members of the ballot board.  The clerk or the clerk's designee shall establish, maintain and update a roster of members appointed to and currently serving on the ballot board and shall report to the Board from time to time as to its status.  Each member of the ballot board shall be paid reasonable compensation for services rendered during an election at the same rate as other election judges; provided, however, if a staff member is already being compensated for regular duties, additional compensation shall not be paid for ballot board duties performed during that staff member's duty day. Each member of the ballot board must be provided adequate training on the processing and counting of absentee ballots, including but not limited to instruction on accepting and rejecting absentee ballots, storage of absentee ballots, timelines and deadlines, the role of the ballot board, procedures for opening absentee ballot envelopes, procedures for counting absentee ballots, and procedures for reporting absentee ballot totals.

12.    The clerk is hereby authorized and directed to begin assembling names of trained election judges to serve at the combined polling places during the special election.  The election judges shall act as clerks of election, count the ballots cast and submit the results to the school board for canvass in the manner provided for other school district elections.  The election must be canvassed between the third and the tenth day following the election.

13.    The School District clerk shall make all Campaign Financial Reports required to be filed with the school district under Minnesota Statutes, Section 211A.02 available on the school district's website.  The clerk must post the report on the school district's website as soon as possible, but no later than thirty (30) days after the date of the receipt of the report.  The school district must make a report available on the school district's website for four years from the date the report was posted to the website.  The clerk must also provide the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board with a link to the section of the website where reports are made available.

Description:  Cambridge-Isanti High School requests permission to conduct an educational field trip to the Model UN National Conference in Chicago, IL. The dates of the trip are February 2-6, 2022

Description:  Cambridge-Isanti High School requests permission to conduct an educational field trip to Spain in the spring of 2022.

Description:  Cambridge-Isanti High School requests permission to conduct an educational field trip to Orlando, Florida for Concert Choir or Symphonic Band students. The dates of the proposed trip are June 11-15, 2022.

Description:  Cambridge-Isanti High School requests permission to conduct an educational field trip to the Galápagos Islands June 12-22, 2023

Description:  Superintendent Rudolph and Cambridge-Isanti Schools Policy Review Committee met and discussed a comparison between our current policy and MSBA's model policy for reference. Cabinet and the Administrative Team also had the opportunity to review the proposed policy changes and provide comments.  Upon consideration, the Policy Review Committee is recommending the Board approve the policy with modifications made in the attached policy.

Description:  Superintendent Rudolph and Cambridge-Isanti Schools Policy Review Committee met and discussed a comparison between our current policy and MSBA's model policy for reference. Cabinet and the Administrative Team also had the opportunity to review the proposed policy changes and provide comments.  Upon consideration, the Policy Review Committee is recommending the Board approve the policy with modifications made in the attached policy.

Description:  Superintendent Rudolph and Cambridge-Isanti Schools Policy Review Committee met and discussed a comparison between our current policy and MSBA's model policy for reference. Cabinet and the Administrative Team also had the opportunity to review the proposed policy changes and provide comments.  Upon consideration, the Policy Review Committee is recommending the Board approve the policy with modifications made in the attached policy.

Description:  Superintendent Rudolph and Cambridge-Isanti Schools Policy Review Committee met and discussed a comparison between our current policy and MSBA's model policy for reference. Cabinet and the Administrative Team also had the opportunity to review the proposed policy changes and provide comments.  Upon consideration, the Policy Review Committee is recommending the Board approve the policy with modifications made in the attached policy.

Description:  Superintendent Rudolph and Cambridge-Isanti Schools Policy Review Committee met and discussed a comparison between our current policy and MSBA's model policy for reference. Cabinet and the Administrative Team also had the opportunity to review the proposed policy changes and provide comments.  Upon consideration, the Policy Review Committee is recommending the Board approve the policy with modifications made in the attached policy.

Description:  Superintendent Rudolph and Cambridge-Isanti Schools Policy Review Committee met and discussed our current policy. Cabinet and the Administrative Team also had the opportunity to review the proposed policy changes and provide comments.  Upon consideration, the Policy Review Committee is recommending the Board approve the policy with modifications made in the attached policy.

Description:  Adjourn meeting