September 13, 2023 at 6:00 PM - Independent School District 507 Regular School Board Meeting

Description:  The school board meeting is a meeting in the public, not a public meeting.  Nicollet School Board Policy provides that persons who wish to have a subject discussed at a public school board meeting are encouraged to notify the superintendent’s office in advance of the school board meeting.  The school board chair will recognize one speaker at a time and will rule out of order other speakers who are not recognized, violations of data privacy, or inappropriate comments.

Description: 

1. The 2023-24 school year is off to a good start.  I expect this to be an excellent year for the Nicollet School District.
2. The annual MSBA Conference is January 11^th and 12^th at the Minneapolis Convention Center.  I encourage school board members to attend.  I will inform the school board when registration for the conference begins.  A preview of the conference is here.
3. The MCA test results from last spring are attached.  Of the 17 academic areas tested, students improved on 7 tests and scored lower on 10 tests in comparison to last year.  NPS students scored above the state average on 3 tests and scored lower than other Minnesota students on 14 tests.  This is unacceptable.  I asked Robin Courrier to submit an academic improvement plan to me by October 13.  
4. The Fall 2023 Enrollment is shown below.

	Fall 22	Fall 23
K	16	32
1	28	14
2	30	28
3	17	33
4	25	15
5	16	25
6	33	18
7	23	32
8	34	22
9	27	34
10	31	25
11	24	32
12	38	24
Total	342	334

 

Description:  The superintendent recommends approving the consent agenda.

Description:  MS 123B.02, Subd. 6 permits the school board to accept donations or gifts for the benefit of the district.  The Superintendent recommends approving the donations received.

Description:  The Superintendent shall be paid January 1, 2024-June 30 salary of $55,925.  
July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025 annual salary of $128,000, 
July 1, 2025-June 30, 2026 $132,000.  
July 1, 2026-December 31, 2026 $68,000.

The committee recommends approving the contract.
 

Description:  The levy certification was posted by MDE on September 8th.  The first "levy run" typically contains errors.  The final calculations will be completed by the end of September.  Jim Freihammer will work with MDE to correct the calculations over the next few weeks.

The Superintendent recommends approving the maximum preliminary certification.

A presentation covering the 23-24 budget and the Payable 2024 Levy will be provided at the December 13th school board meeting.  The final levy amount will be approved by the board at that time.

Description: 

6. MSBA has two options available for the school board to conduct a self-evaluation.  This will be an agenda item on September 13.
   1. No Cost: The first option is to receive a one-page summary that will provide an Overview Report (aggregated data) for each of the five school board standards, upon which the questions are based (attached).  The standards are 1) Conduct & Ethics, 2) Vision, 3) Structure, 4) Accountability, and 5) Advocacy & Communication.  This one-page report is available at no-cost to our Association members.  Please note that it does not include any guided discussion or goal identifying with MSBA staff.
   2. $1,095: The second option will provide the board with a more comprehensive report (27 pages in length).  The Full Report is only available at a Board-Superintendent Team in-service, which would be facilitated by Gail Gilman, MSBA.  The in-service will last anywhere between 2-3 hours (longer, if needed) and allows the board to see the disaggregated data for each one of the 70 questions of the evaluation.  Part of the in-service would be spent identifying possible Board-Superintendent Team goals that align with the district's goals as outlined in your Strategic Plan.   This option also includes a written summary of the in-service which can be used as the team continues their own discussion to identify Board-Superintendent Team goals.

                        During the in-service with the Board-Superintendent Team, we will:

• Identify the Stages of Board Development
• Review the Board Governance Model
• Discuss the Development of a Strategic Governance Framework
• Review the Strategic Planning process; Introduce the Plan on a Page; Suggest Next Steps with the Strategic Plan
• Review the Standards of Board Leadership
• Review the School Board Self-Evaluation (SBSE) Full Report
• Assist in Identifying Board Team Goals
• Reference the Board's role in working with the Superintendent in setting Superintendent Goals
• Discuss alignment of District Goals from the Strategic Plan with Board and Superintendent Goals
• I facilitate this service remotely rather than in person, so the in-service will be delivered via virtual platform.  I have successfully conducted many of these remotely with other districts and it covers all the same content that we would discuss if I were in person. 
• The in-service is scheduled at least six weeks out to allow time for everyone to take the SBSE and for MSBA to prepare the Full Report.

Description: 

6. The GNACF was awarded a a grant of $32,300, on behalf of the school district, from the USDA Rural Development for the NECC playground.  One of the grant requirements is for the school district to hear public concerns about the environmental impact of the playground.

Description:  I consulted with CAREI at the U of M to identify an appropriate school climate survey for NPS.  The Gallop Q12 Employee Engagement Survey includes 12 questions and has been validated through an extensive research base.  The cost would be less than $600 for us to administer the survey ($15 per employee.) 

Description: 

6. The superintendent recommends that the first five steps from the classified pay schedule be deleted.  We have not been able to hire new employees on step one and have been starting their pay on a higher step.  Advertising vacancies at a higher rate of pay may attract more applicants.  

Description: 

6. The Tomahawk and Valley Conferences are discussing a merger beginning with the 2024-25 school year.  James Burnau and I support proceeding on a trial basis.  James will be at the meeting to present the information (attached) and answer questions.