January 22, 2018 at 6:30 PM - Regular

Description:  Demuth, Habben, Hesse, Humbert, Schurman, and Wesenberg. 

Student Members:  Emily Haus, Grace Sauer, AnnaMaria Tomovic, and Alexa Hennen

Description:  The School Board Chair will lead the board and attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Description:  Board action to approve the agenda for the meeting is expected.

Description:  The agenda is open to visitors of the meeting to offer comments to and/or requests of the school board. The comments and requests should follow the adopted district guidelines which are printed and available at the meeting.  As a general rule, items introduced in the opportunity for comments and requests do not receive action from the School Board, but are taken under advisement or consideration for future action.

Description:  Members of the Student Senate have opportunity to share the recent activities of the organization and things that are underway with planning.  Student representatives may also feel free to comment, at this time or during discussion, on any items of the agenda.

Description:  Action is requested on the following items of the consent agenda. Consent agenda items are typically adopted without discussion of the individual items because they are routine or ordinary in action.  Any consent agenda item may be removed for further discussion and deliberation by any member of the board.

Description:  The minutes from the Regular and Work Session meetings of January 8, 2018  are included in the exhibits.

Recommend approval of the minutes from the meetings.

Description:  Board Treasurer Jason Wesenberg will have reviewed financial information for the board.  This information is included in the Treasurer's Report.  

Approval of Treasurer’s Report is recommended.

Description:  Treasurer Wesenberg will have been at the school site to review bills, ask questions, and confirm information prior to the meeting. 

Recommendation is to approve bill payment subject to any adjustments or direction offered by the Treasurer.

Description:  Community Ed Director Hillman has submitted a list of class instructors for classes offered through the Community Education department. 

Community Ed Director Hillman has also submitted a recommendation for Sandy Fink to continue as an ECFE Paraprofessional for another ten weeks.

Sam Court, Principal at John Clark Elementary has submitted a recommendation for Dana Claseman as a Paraprofessional for the remainder of the 2017-2018 school year to meet the special education requirements of students' IEPs.

Recommend approval of the assignments as outlined.

Description:  Leah Blonigen, Teacher at Cold Spring Elementary, has submitted a request for a leave of absence beginning approximately April 5, 2018 and continuing until May 29, 2018.

Recommend approval of the request for a leave of absence from Leah Blonigen.

Description:  Emily Schmitz, Paraprofessional at the Secondary Schools, has submitted a letter of resignation effective January 26, 2018.

Recommend acceptance of the resignation letter from Emily Schmitz.

Description:  At the start of the calendar year, invoices for membership dues to the local business organizations are received.  Although the Cold Spring Area Chamber membership renewal has not been distributed, the District has received the membership fees for the Richmond Civic and Commerce.  The information is included in the exhibits.  

Recommend approval of the membership renewal in Richmond Civic and Commerce.

Description:  District practice has been to bring the current substitute list for Board approval.  Since we have gone to Teachers On Call with the start of this school year, many of our substitutes are no longer employed through the district but are employees of Teachers on Call. Classified substitutes are not assigned through the process for Teachers On Call and so a list of substitutes for classified employee positions is submitted for School Board authorization.

Recommend approval of the classified employee substitutes.

Description:  Action items receive individual attention because of the nature of the issues, the need to discuss or review the information prior to taking action, or the specific kind of action required for the item.

Description:  A bill has been received from the Cold Spring Bakery.  It is being processed through Check #97481 in the amount of $ 64.23   .  The bill is separated from the other bill payment process because of the ownership interests of board member Lynn Schurman.

Recommend payment of the bill.

Description:  Discussion items receive individual attention because of the nature of the issues and the need for introductory or other discussion in order to review the information prior to taking action.  This is also the agenda location for items which simply need school board review, but no formal action on the item is required.  Discussion items will typically return to the agenda at a future point for more specific action.

Description:  It is the custom of the district to update the staff assignments and placement at the middle of the year.  In part, this helps set the stage for budget development by having an understanding of the staff at each site and location as well as an understanding of the scope of staff deployment.  In part, it is also intended to allow School Board members to see how and where school staff members are assigned.

Desired Outcome:  The item is simply for District information.  All staff members included in the report have previously been approved through board action, so no action is required on this agenda item.  It is informational in nature.

Recommendation:  This item is informational in nature; it is intended to provide a base for discussion.  No formal action is required.

Description:  Options include a simple review of the policy, referral of the policy to committee, additional work by the full board, referral for administrative action, or other direction from the board.

Description:  First readings of several policies are extended at this meeting.  A first reading is given to policies 5-3 Emergency and Crisis; 6-14 License Status, 7-13 Visitors to Schools and 9-20 Student Surveys.

Because Policy 5-3, Emergency and Crisis, is only being adjusted in minor fashion to fit the District format and in one line, the Policy Review Committee is recommending that this be the first, and final, reading of the policy.  The changes to the policy are not substantive in nature and the policy should not need three readings.

Policies 6-14 License Status, 7-13 Visitors to School, and 9-20 Student Surveys are all new policies to the district and are based on MSBA Model policy.  Policies 7-13 and 9-20 are required policies for school districts while policy 6-14 helps to address some concerns about licensing that have occurred in recent years.  All three policies have been given consideration by the Policy Review Committee but are now submitted to the full School Board for the process of approval.  This process begins with the first public reading of the policy.

Desired Outcome: This is the first reading of the new policies; no formal action is required. The policies are based on MSBA models.

Recommendation:  First readings of all four policies with policies 6-14, 7-13 and 9-20 to return for second and third readings.  First, and final, reading of policy 5-3.

Description:  The Policy Review Committee has completed work on several policies.  These policies were given first readings at a previous meeting and the policies are now submitted for the second of three readings. The Policy Review Committee is recommending second readings on policies 2-13 Naming Rights, 7-4 Harassment Prevention, 7-12 Violence Prevention, 9-9 Weapons, and 9-19 Immunization Requirements.

Each of these policies has received considerable review since the first reading.  There is not an MSBA Model policy for Naming Rights so this policy is based on that of neighboring districts.  Policy 7-4 previously included both Harassment and Violence, but the Policy Review Committee is recommending separate policies to deal with each issue.  As such, the Harassment Prevention policy retains the original number, 7-4, but separates from Violence Prevention.  Violence Prevention assumes a new number (7-12) .  

Policy 9-9 is an existing policy but has been blended with the MSBA Model policy to strengthen the original ROCORI version.  The bulk of the changes are to incorporate MSBA model language.

Policy 9-19, Immunization Requirements, is based on the MSBA Model policy for this issue and was presented for a first reading at the previous meeting.

Desired Outcome:  Second reading of the new policies.  The bulk of these policies and adjustments are based on MSBA models.

Recommendation:  This is the second reading; no formal action is required.  The policies are expected to return in final form under the consent agenda at the next meeting.

Description:  At the last School Board meeting, a question was raised about conducting a Board Walk-Through before the end of the school year.  The walk-through, in previous years, was conducted as a means of allowing School Board members to see the academic programs of the district "in action" and to help support the initiatives of the district.  School Board members were paired with administrative leaders to walk through school buildings. 

Desired Outcome:  Help build understanding of the walk-through concept and determine if there is interest in having a scheduled day for School Board Walk-Through prior to the end of the school year.

Recommendation:  There is no formal action required, but consensus is desired about the interest and timing of a potential walk-through.

Description:  At several junctures in the last few years, there has been action to place groups and organizations into Club Status.  Policy 8-14 governs the process of introducing new activities into the district.  There have been questions by School Board members about the implications of club level activities and a request was made to have discussion around the parameters of Policy 8-14.

Desired Outcome:  Conversation about the issues and parameters of the policy in order for all to have a better understanding of "club status" as well as the process for additional activities.

Recommendation:  This agenda item is informational in nature and does not require any formal Board action.

Description:  The School District is currently in the process of negotiating new employment agreements with several employee groups.  The teachers, paraprofessionals, principals and administrative employment agreements are currently in the process of negotiations or discussions.  The School Board Negotiations Committee has requested opportunity to provide an update of the progress for the full School Board.

Should the School Board determine, during the discussion, that it needs to enter into a closed session for negotiations strategy, the School Board would exercise the provisions of M.S. 13D.03 which states, "A school board may, by majority vote in a public meeting, decide to close a meeting to consider strategy for labor negotiations.  The time and place of the closed meeting shall be announced at the public meeting."

It is not expected that this will be a Negotiations strategy session.  It is expected to simply be an update for the full School Board on the progress being made in negotiations.

Desired Outcome:  School Board member understanding of the current progress in negotiations and discussions with employee groups.

Recommendation:  This item is informational in nature only.  As such, no formal action is required or expected.

Description:  At the end of calendar year 2017, School Board members established leadership goals for the Board including extension of the understanding of the strengths of each Board member.  The members agreed to use the StrengthsFinder 2.0 from the Gallup Organization as the base for this development.  

Each Board member has been asked to complete the StrengthsFinder survey.  This agenda item will be facilitated by Board Chair Habben and Superintendent Staska and is intended to allow each Board member to share the outcomes of their personal survey, to comment on the information received, and to learn about the results of the other members of the School Board.

Board members are asked, for this meeting, to be prepared to share the information from their own StrengthsFinder report.  The information shared might consider reflections on
a.  the "accuracy" of the report generated,
b.  what elements of the report surprised them,
c.  what elements of the report seemed to be consistent with their own understanding and perceptions, and
d.  to highlight any themes from the report that seemed to stand out as the report was reviewed.

The information will return over the next several meetings as the strengths and information received will be used to probe more deeply into the relationships among Board members and the work of the School Board.  It is expected that the conversation in the next meeting will look at comparisons of the strengths among the board team.  Following that, the discussion is expected to focus on how the information can assist with "board work."

Desired Outcome:  It is desired that Board members will share the findings of their StrengthFinder survey and that each member will learn about the strengths of the other Board members.

Recommendation:  This is an informational item only.  No formal action is expected on this item.

Description:  School Board members have completed a mid-year, formative feedback assessment regarding superintendent performance.  The information is intended to help direct the efforts of the superintendent over the second half of the school year.  Because it is private, personnel information, it is likely that discussion of the information will require a closed session of the School Board--unless the superintendent requests the meeting to remain open.  

The meeting would be closed according to the provisions of M.S. 13D.05, Subd. 3(a)  which states, "A school board may close a meeting to evaluate the performance of an individual who is subject to its authority.  The school board must identify (and notify) the individual to be evaluated before closing the meeting."

It is expected that the school board must give a detailed summary of its conclusions regarding the evaluation at the next open meeting.

Desired Outcome:  A mid-year formative evaluation of the superintendent's performance during the current school year.

Recommendation:  Conduct the formative review in closed session with a detailed report expected at the next open meeting.

Description:  Administrative reports are requested of each administrator for update purposes. For the second meeting, the reports are offered by the Business Cabinet members.  The Business Cabinet includes the Director of Business Services, Buildings and Grounds Director, Technology Director, Community Education Director, Food Service Director, and Activities Director.

Description:  The business office provides an update of district expenditures and revenues through the Budget Comparison Report.The report is intended to provide a financial picture of the district in a couple ways.One is to compare current year expenditures to the previous year.The second is to simply give a report on the current financial status.In addition to the report, special items of note are highlighted in the explanations offered. This report does not require formal action but is provided as an informational item.

Description:  Superintendent Staska is expected to have a report for the board regarding district activities and information.

Description:  Board members will report on activities within their portfolio of committee and representative assignments.

Description:  A calendar of upcoming issues of concern to the school board is included as part of the agenda.