00:00:04,400	Yeah, jeez. Good evening. I’m Dan Eastgate, president of the Bismarck Public School Board. It’s 5:15 on Monday, October 14th. I call this meeting to order. Welcome to those of you who are joining us both here and online. You can find our agenda and follow along online under the school board tab at Bismarckschools.org. Mr.

00:00:24,270	Sher, will you call the roll please, Mister Eastgate, here, Mr. Hagar, here, Mr. Lee, Mrs. Peterson, Ms. Preske. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Dr. Fossnot, would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? Thank you, Dr. Fossna.

00:01:08,500	Also in honor of Indigenous People’s Day today, we’d like to say thank you to our BPS in uh indigenous education staff across the district. Thank you for all you do for our students. Item 1C is the BPS mission vision and values. The BPS mission is to empower every learner to thrive, the BPS vision states together our strong relationships build inclusive, collaborative and innovative environments that create agency and inspire a passion for learning, excellence and discovery.

00:01:28,300	The BPS values are inclusion, excellence, innovation, and leadership. You can also find a link in the agenda at the BPS strategic plan. Item 2 is to adopt the agenda. What are the wishes of the board? Mr. Hager, I moved to adopt the agenda. Of a motion. We have a motion in a second. Thank you Preskey. Mr.

00:01:46,000	Sher, Hager Yes, Lee Peterson. Preskey, yes, motion passes. Jumping into the agenda item 3 focus on success. We have 3 child nutrition update Dr. Fosna’s pleasure to bring the podium and welcome Michelle Wagner, our child nutrition director, and, uh, she’s gonna share with you a few aspects of our program and I think you’ll

00:02:15,300	find one of them very delicious tonight. Thank you, Ms. Wagner. Thank you, Mr. President. right Of Can you hear us better? Got you. Uh, thank you, President Eastgate and uh members of the board for, um, having us come today to discuss just some different things that we have going on in our department.

00:02:36,670	Um, here we go. Um, so I’m Michelle Wagner, director of child nutrition, and I have with me Renee Peterson, um, she’s with, uh, Bismarck High School Community-based employment education. And so tonight we’re just gonna talk about some of the different partnerships that we have within Bismarck Public Schools and the community. Yeah So thank you, Michelle.

00:02:59,500	Um, we have a partnership at Bismarck High School, um, this Young man is named Gavin. He’s doing a job site in the cafeteria. Some of our students in this program, it’s community-based employment. Many of our students are in the community, um, and.

00:03:18,930	A lot of times they start out within the school, so Gavin works at Bismarck High School with a job coach and, um, some of the things he’s working on is obviously job skills, self advocacies, communication, um, and those are things related to his IEP goals for, um, having a job someday, um, at Bismarck High School, he’s experienced, um, an inclusive environment, very friendly coworkers, um, he

00:03:43,570	feels like his job is very meaningful, um. Within the schools, we also have students at, um, various places, library, mailroom, custodial services, um. Most of our students though, our goal is to be in the community. So 35 is apparently the magic number for this year.

00:04:08,430	We’ve, um, the community-based employment has been a program in BPS for 35 years. Um, we work with students with unique learning needs to build job skills, so we start with interviews, applications, we have, um, a lot of job coach assistants from instructional aides, and they work a lot on social skills. So I’m one of the facilitators. I’m at Bismarck High School.

00:04:30,030	We also have, um, Nicole Lund and also Jennifer Sick, they’re at the other two high schools we serve life education also. We currently have 35 students out in the community at various businesses. Typically they trade each semester, so they have many experiences. Sometimes they stay.

00:04:54,530	Ultimate goal is to be hired, um, and recently some of our graduates of our program have been hired at Cashwise, McDonald’s, e-waste, Burger King, nothing but cake, and many others. We have around 40 business partnerships, um, the list is there, grocery store is automotive, Parks and Rec, daycares, restaurants, coffee shops, nursing homes, and overall program goals, um, again, job skills, career exploration and, um, just Increasing the chance of

00:05:21,800	competitive employment. So that’s a quick overview of the program. If anyone has any questions for me. Board members, any questions so far? Thank you very much.

00:05:42,130	Yeah, I just want to say when we, when uh Renee approached me on this, um, I took it to my staff and they were a little bit nervous about it, but I’ve heard nothing but positive feedback. Um, they love Gavin, they love having him in there, they said he just kind of lightens up the mood and, um, they really enjoy him coming in. So thank you. Um, so I wanna touch base a little bit.

00:05:59,100	About some of the community partnerships that we have with our department. Um, first I’d like to talk about our local foods coordinators, um, there’s 2 of them now, as you can see in the picture, um, Amanda Smith is in the blue shirt and Clarissa Bachman is in the black shirt.

00:06:15,500	And what we’ve, we’ve gone through about 4 local coordinators in the last 4 years, um, because it’s a very part-time position, so we, we seem to keep, keep them for about a year and then they move on to full-time employment.

00:06:30,970	And so when Jenna left this last year, we really tried to Look at how can we make sure that we are building on the work that they’re doing, um, to start over every year with the local foods coordinator. We weren’t really getting anywhere. Um, and so at that time, we decided to. To look at our two employees, Amanda and Clarissa, that are my elementary supervisors for child nutrition, so they each have 9 kitchens that they oversee.

00:06:50,230	Um, and we realized a lot of the work that they do as local foods coordinators does do deal with Bismarck Public schools with our farm to school program. It’s probably the largest portion of their of their, um, the profile that they have.

00:07:08,370	But they also work with the local farmers’ markets, um, and then the community orchards with Bismarck Parks and Rec. Um, so again, this is just a unique opportunity that the city of Bismarck, Bismarck, Parks and Rec, and Bismarck Public Schools, all combined together to support this position.

00:07:27,430	Um, we’re the only entity in the state that has something like this, and so it really helps kind of bring all of those together. Um, so one of the first, uh, jobs that they, that Amanda and Clarissa were tasked with was our corn husking day, um, because it doesn’t just happen, you know, there’s a lot of coordinating that takes place before that, um, so they reached out, we did our bids, they helped with that, um, Vulcan Farms is our farmer

00:07:47,500	right outside of, of Lincoln, Minoan Farms is, is where we source our, our corn from. Um, we did 5500 dozen ears of corn this year, um, and we learned that last year we needed more help.

00:08:07,130	So they reached out to Gate City Bank and Touchmark Senior Living Center and it was wonderful, um, the, the, everybody that came had a great time. Um, we also had some of our own BPS students that came in and helped, um, We were able to process 500 dozen ears of corn in one week.

00:08:27,530	Um, so we did 250 the first day hussed it all, another 250 dozen ears the second day, and then the cook’s processed it, cooked it, um, and got it ready to go, um, Thursday and Friday. So really 500 dozen of years and again many hands make light work. So we couldn’t have done it without our volunteers.

00:08:45,270	So again, a big thank you to, um, Touch Mark and to Gate Citibank for, for Giving us their volunteer time. Um, just some other things to touch on because October is farm to school month, so I always like to kind of talk a little bit about what we’re doing, um, over 2000 pounds of cucumbers have come in so far.

00:09:02,670	This is just for the elementaries, um, watermelon has been a huge success, and I think you guys are going to get to taste that a little bit later and you’ll get to see what the kids have been trying, um, so we brought in over 2000 pounds of watermelon. Um, we bring in about 600 pounds at a time.

00:09:17,230	We process 300 pounds, send it out to half of our element. schools and then the next day they come back and they process another, um, 300 pounds so that it goes out fresh to, to the, to the rest of the schools. So you can just kind of see here this is them um down at Mose’s Kitchen.

00:09:33,530	Um, there’s no machine for watermelon. It’s all, uh, all muscle to get through that watermelon. So Dwight Duke is who we source our watermelon from, um, and he, it’s, it’s wonderful. The kids have absolutely loved it. Um, some of the other items that we’ve done locally, this picture, I just kind of wanted to show off.

00:09:50,700	I feel like I’m just bragging a little because they kind of look like stock photos. Um, I feel like the peppers and the and the tomatoes for sure look like something you’d get off the internet. Let me guarantee that these are actual products that are coming in from our farmers that are going out to, to our students.

00:10:06,700	Um, so it’s just so, it’s just so beautiful. It’s just, I don’t know, I love it. All right, so with all of this that we’re doing, um, what I think we’re running into is our current model that we have where we’re we’re cooking in each kitchen, we have, I would say our biggest challenge is our employment.

00:10:27,970	Um, we are constantly running short on staff just like everywhere else. And so I think if we want to continue this, we need to look at how we, how can we be more efficient, um, like I said, labor and productivity are, we could definitely increase our efficiencies with that.

00:10:45,300	Um, if we had a central kitchen, if we went to more of that central kitchen model. Um, we can increase our scratch cooking because we can bring in more local products, um, which then leads to more of that scratch cooking that we could do for all the schools, um, space and efficiency are definitely major problems that we, we face right

00:11:03,170	now. So this picture is down at our warehouse. Um, this is the elementary produce that comes in for one week, and this is the area that we’re working in, you know, she’s, she’s got it all on carts. We’re we’re boxing it up, switching it and reshuffling and then it out to the schools.

00:11:20,900	Um, and so I, I was kind of curious what is our male participation look like? So my first year was in 2015. I was hired August of 2015. And so we were serving 1.8 meals. Oh, did I lose our slide? And right now we’re serving 2.

00:11:46,030	2 million meals, so it’s an increase of 25% in our meal participation from 2015 to last year, so those were last year’s full numbers. Um, and so I think again, that’s where it just shows like we need to look at our current model and how we’re approaching this, um, we’re definitely going to be more efficient if we have some sort of central location, um, we need less staff hours to man

00:12:05,100	that central location. It brings equity to all of our students, you know, right now we can’t have local ground beef for all students. We can just only have it at our secondaries because our elementaries don’t have the capability to cook local ground beef, um, so that there’s just some, some, uh, uh, efficiencies that we can have

00:12:27,200	with, um, With, sorry, I lost my train of thought there. Um, if we went to that central kitchen model, um, so I guess that was it, the, um. If there’s any questions that we can answer for you guys? Board members, any questions, comments, Mr. Lee. Thank you, President Eastgate. I just want to thank you, Mrs.

00:12:52,100	Wagner, and Mrs. Peterson, wherever. Can’t see her, she’s hiding, but, uh, thank you both, um, I just love the, the farm to school, um, if not here, where, right? I mean, this is so, so awesome and I love the local sourcing and I’d love to see that equity, so I, I appreciate all the work, uh,

00:13:12,100	you all do every day, uh, and also that, uh, you know, it’s, it’s good to bring this to the forefront of board members. It’s something I think we would all like to see solved. I like the central kitchen uh model for sure. It’s good.

00:13:28,570	And then the, uh, community-based employment, that’s just so awesome, you know, I saw a picture of Christian McMurdy up there recent uh Century grad. He’s over at Gifted Bean, which is just such an awesome place inside the Bismarck, uh, public library, so very well done. I just appreciate the report. Thank you both. OK Board members, any other comments? Yeah, Mr.

00:13:48,700	Lee said, thanks so much for bringing all this to us. Um, you’re right on the stock photos. It looks amazing. Um, also at the very end of the slide show, you’ll notice uh a Dr. Jeff Fos not sitting with I think it’s elementary students enjoying a lunch.

00:14:03,870	I also had a chance earlier this year while speaking to some freshman students to enjoy turkey and gravy, which is easily one of my favorite meals. I don’t know if that goes on the farm to table, but, um, it’s been a favorite of mine since kindergarten.

00:14:17,070	So it’s uh it’s pretty awesome what you guys are able to do, and I like to even ask my own kids in school what they have and some of their favorites are with. I go, do you know that beef is locally sourced. I have to kind of explain what that is sometimes, but um, it’s really awesome what you guys are doing. We appreciate it.

00:14:28,430	And, as you, you know, our community partners, the people that are providing the corn, the beef, all the local stuff that we have going on, it’s just really remarkable to see a school district working, engaging with so many people in the community and, and we know your guys’s staff has a huge part of that, so. Thanks very much, Dr. Fazna. both of you well done.

00:14:44,830	Thank you for taking care of our kids and giving them opportunities that extend their classroom. Thank you, Renee. Um, uh, what I really appreciate, and I didn’t even pick up my own picture. Maybe that’s when it cut out is when my pictures went up, it went dead, um, but I’d also like to applaud her.

00:15:00,300	She had Superintendent Baesler and a Comm. Gering in for a day to celebrate this, uh, Ag to school connection and and what I really appreciate is he was so Complimentary of the work that Michelle and her team are doing to get ready and he just said, you know, 500.

00:15:17,530	ears of corn, that’s a lot of corn, and then she corrected and said, no, 500 dozen ears of corn, and he was thoroughly amazed that we processed that much corn, so well done. Thank you, Dr. Posner. That’s it. Yeah, it looks like that we have. Thank you so much.

00:15:36,630	Um, I also know board members, they brought us in some watermelon to try later, so uh I was asked earlier for if that’s gonna work at the board and I said, well, of course it is. Uh, we’re very much hands-on learners here. We, we encourage that. So thanks so much for bringing us some samplings. We look forward to trying that after the meeting. Appreciate you.

00:15:54,200	OK Next up on our agenda, item 4 is public comment. The board recognizes the central role that parents play in the education of their children, and we support active parent involvement in the educational process. The board’s practice of public comment reflects and aligns with policy BCBA and the spirit of its intent.

00:16:09,300	For classroom issues, it’s best to follow the chain of command, which would be through the teacher, then to the principal, the assistant superintendent, and ultimately to Dr. Foszno for district issues, please reach out directly to Dr. F Fasnot’s office. If you do speak tonight, we simply ask that you be responsible, be helpful, and be respectful.

00:16:25,230	Our BPS students deserve to have adults model the expectations that we have for them. Groups are urged to select one spokesperson. Individuals will be limited to no more than 4 minutes and be notified with 30 seconds remaining to conclude the remarks. The board will not debate issues that’s presented, but we’ll take such matters under advisement.

00:16:40,100	With that if anybody has public comment, please stand and approach the podium if you’d like to speak tonight. Relatively empty room tonight. I don’t see anybody stepping forward. Uh, public comment will now be closed. We’ll move to item 5 on the agenda monitoring district operations. 5A is OE 7 asset protection. And, uh, thank you, board members. I’d invite, uh, business manager, Mr.

00:17:05,170	Char to come up and present OE 7. Thank you, President Eastgate members of the board tonight, uh, I’d like to. Report out on OE 7, pleased to say that all indicators are showing in compliance, um, just a couple.

00:17:27,200	Things that I want to point out to the board for consideration in the report, um, first is, you may have heard recently, we had a school district that, uh, had some ACH fraud. Um, so I would like to think that Bismarck Public Schools as Good controls in place. Um, I don’t think it would happen here, um.

00:17:45,900	But we do have multiple steps in the process, um, just so you, I wanted you to know that cause like, well, what happened? Could it happen to us? Um, I would hope it would not happen. It, we have enough controls in place that it wouldn’t happen. The other thing I want to talk a little bit about is insurance, um.

00:18:03,430	Casey Miller, a director of technology, and I struggle with this every year, um, the balance of Saber slash data breach insurance with the cost of insurance and, you know, how do you make sure you have enough, uh, you know, you have adequate protection. But still that you can afford it and be, um, you know, good stewards of taxpayer dollars.

00:18:22,930	So that’s something we’re always looking into, um. And then the last thing is I know the board um was very involved with cash management in the last year and a half or so, and, you know, we’ve, we put steps into place to really reduce and incentivize non-cash options for all of our.

00:18:41,830	Employees, um, so there’s the kind of the big three things that I wanted to share with the board and then I would answer any questions on any of the indicators that. That you would have. Thank you, Mr. Char. Board members, any questions for Mr. Sher? Seeing none, what are the wishes of the board? Mr.

00:19:03,870	Lee, President Eastgate, I would move that we accept the we have an asset protection as in compliance as presented. I would second. Of motion in a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, Mr. Sher. Lee Peterson, Preske Hager, yes, Eastgate. Yes. Motion passes.

00:19:35,770	Item 5B is GC4 officers’ roles will have a public reading and then the board can determine if we retain or amend GC 4 officers’ roles as well as determining if we’re in compliance. Here’s the reading, officers rolls, the officers of the border, those listed in this policy, their duties are those assigned by this policy and others required by law.

00:19:56,600	President, the president provides leadership to the board, ensures the faithful execution of the board’s processes, exercises, interpretive responsibility with integrity, reflecting the spirit and intent of the board’s policies and normally serves as the board’s official spokesperson. The president has the following specific authority and duties, number one.

00:20:15,330	Monitor board actions to assure that they are consistent with the board’s own rules and policies, and with other obligations imposed by agencies whose authority supersedes the board’s own authority, one A. Conduct and monitor board meeting deliberations to assure that board discussion and attention are focused on board issues as defined in board policy, CGC 3 for reference. 1 B, assure that board meetings, discussions are productive, efficient, and orderly.

00:20:35,630	1C Chair board meetings using the authority normally vested in the chair as described in Robert’s Rules of Order, newly revised. 1D Le timely board meeting debriefings and periodic self-assessments to ensure continuous process improvement. 2, Assure the compilation of the board’s summative evaluation of the superintendent. Number 3, represent the board as its official spokesperson about issues decided by the board and other matters, matters related to official board business.

00:21:00,630	Number 4, execute all documents authorized by the board except as otherwise otherwise provided by law. Number 5, on behalf of the board and in concert with the superintendent developed proposed board meeting agendas consistent with the board’s annual calendar.

00:21:23,230	Number 6, make all interpretive decisions board policies and the governance culture and board superintendent relationship sections using reasonable judgment. The president is not authorized to make any interpretive decisions about policies created by the board and the results and operational expectations policy areas, interpretation of these policies is the responsibility of the superintendent.

00:21:44,230	Letter B exercise any authority as an individual to supervise or direct superintendent and let C serve as a barrier between the superintendent and the board. The role of vice president. The vice president, so shall serve as president in the event of the president’s absence or inability to perform assigned duties. This brings the end of the reading GC4 officers rules. For that reading Any conversation or what are the wishes of the board.

00:22:06,970	I’d move that we retain GC. 4 officers rules. Second, we have a motion in a second. Any further discussion? Mr. Sheriff, if you can call the roll, please. Peterson, Preske Hager, yes, Lee Eastgate, motion passes. And how’s the board find us? I would also move that um for GC 4 officer’s role, uh, the board is in compliance.

00:22:36,830	Second, We have motion is second. Any further discussion? Mr. Sheriff Preskey Hager, yes, Lee Peterson, he’s good. Yes, pushing passes. Right, I’m 6 on the agenda is matters reserved for board action 6A is GC2 governing commitments. Dr. Fastt.

00:23:03,500	I remember last time board members, you had 1 reading, the second reading of these changes that you requested, um, you have them in your packet. So, um, part two of governing commitments GC2. I’ll just read the second paragraph or part two, the board is responsible for its own performance and commits itself to continuous improvement, the board will assure that its members are provided with training and professional support necessary to govern effectively as a

00:23:24,800	means to assure continuous improvement, the board regularly and systematically. We’ll monitor all policies in this section and may assess the quality of each meeting. As reworded Thank you, Dr. Frosno. Thanks for the work on this as we talk about. Improving some of our own governance and how we can make it be more.

00:23:42,970	I guess I would say congruent to what we’re actually trying to accomplish with that board members. Any questions for Dr. Faz on this or the wish of the board, Mr. Lee. Uh, Mr. President, I would move that we approved the revisions to policy GC2. And I would second. a motion is 2. Seeing no more discussion. Mr.

00:24:08,030	Sher Hager, yes, Lee Peterson, Preskeke, yes. Motion passes And item 6B board member school visits. I know we have several here tonight to share about some of their school visits who would like to go first? Mr. Lee’s light is on, please, that lead off worse tonight. All right, thank you, Mr. President. I do have 2 reports to give tonight.

00:24:28,370	My first one was my visit to Silver Ranch, uh, home of the Stampee. At first toured the building with Principal Jordan, and it’s just hard to believe it’s been 3 years since we opened the school.

00:24:48,730	It really doesn’t seem that long ago, uh, we were standing out in a pasture with golden shovels, uh, just so excited about this new school and. The first thing I did was I ran my fingers across the sensory panels in the hallway cause that’s the, the coolest thing in the world to me.

00:25:03,400	It’s the simple things in life, um, just so cool and that’s where they were actually installed correctly, so thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, I was struck by the serenity. It was really quiet for an elementary school. And so I asked Principal Jordan about that and she feels strongly her uh teachers do an amazing job with with tier one instruction and their passion for tier one instruction is, is certainly evident.

00:25:25,530	She’s very proud of their academic and behavioral record. Uh, feel strongly they are a data-driven school and really seek out opportunities for enrichment and gifted education, believing every one of their kids is entitled to one year’s growth and I said that’s gonna warm Mrs.

00:25:45,230	Peterson’s heart, which I know it does, um, and it’s something we talk about a lot and it’s truly is easier said than done. Uh, it’s, it’s great work and they, they do a fantastic job there. Uh, Principal Jordan is a huge champion of the teachers in our building, stating that they are an amazing group of educators that are driven and motivated to learn.

00:26:02,570	They’re eager eager to challenge one another and she really couldn’t be more proud. So you know, when you think of a new school, it’s essentially a startup and not unlike a business startup, and it comes with many challenges, um, the biggest of which is finding your identity and creating a sense of belonging. And when you bring teachers and kids from other buildings into a new space.

00:26:21,670	It takes time to form that community and you have to be real intentional intentional about relationships. And it was just evident to me that all that hard work, uh, that they’ve done up there has paid off. It’s a school with a great climate.

00:26:38,270	And culture And that is thanks to Principal Jordan and all the adults in that building. Uh, I spoke with the head cook and she was passionate about every child seeing a smile on their face when they come to lunch, and she was a mother herself, so she is a mother herself, so she knows the importance of connecting with each child and making their day a little better.

00:26:57,400	The biggest challenge at Silver Ranch is growth, um, Principal Jordan believes in being intentional about the systems that are implemented, so regardless of when more kids come. Uh, and if you look at that that building in that area, more kids are coming. Um, regardless when they do come, Silver Ranch will be ready. At the elementary level.

00:41:25,000	I’ve heard really great things about it. The teachers really like it. I know that they, they know that it’s gonna meet all of the students’ needs, um, but it’s new and so just that newness and and learning a new curriculum when they’ve been um used to whatever they were doing before that, that it really is overwhelming and so

00:41:41,070	just a shout out to teachers as we talk about just all the things that they’re that they’re managing the time and the space, um, just being, being aware of that, um, as well as just, uh, attendance is, is something that I’ve been hearing more and more from all of our school leaders, um, and

00:41:57,530	normally when we would hear about um chronic absenteeism and things like that, we always think of some of our at-risk families that, that, that are definitely still a challenge, but she also really spoke about that some of our, our families are just taking their children on extended vacations.

00:42:16,200	Um, uh, they had 8 families out in September for over a week, um, and so 8 families, that’s over probably 2025 students. When you add it all up and so. Just that constant individualized instruction that’s needed to happen to make, make sure that you’re meeting those kids’ needs before they go and when they return.

00:42:33,330	So those were just some of those challenges I think we hear all the time and it’s just, you know, think a teacher when you’re out and about because they are, are definitely managing a lot as well as those principles.

00:42:49,430	So I want to thank, um, Shelly for taking me around and, um, you know, making me feel all the fields with my, my, uh, high school students and senior, uh, and, and just remembering all the, all the good old days feels like yesterday. And it seems like a long time ago. All right, thanks everybody. Thanks so much, Ms. Peterson. I like that. Thank you. Thank you teacher. Thank you teacher when you’re out in out in the community, that’s great.

00:43:04,430	Um, I also have a couple of school visits to give here tonight, and I just want to say thanks to both Mr. Lee and Ms. Peterson for really engaging that dignity index as well. I’m hearing that loud and clear from board members.

00:43:18,930	I think it’s, you know, on our minds as we even are going through the building and that we have a chance to interact and ask these questions and find out how we can continue to grow that, um, as I did my two, I definitely, I’m kind of leaning this idea of even people over programs.

00:43:32,730	So we have so many great programs in our schools and then who are the people behind it and what are they doing and how they interact acting with other teachers, with uh students and what that looks like for our schools.

00:43:45,100	My first visit was about 3 weeks ago and her eyes in middle school, um, happened to be a Friday, which she doesn’t love a Friday, a little extra energy and excitement, usually at the especially at the secondary level, getting ready for football games and all the other fun stuff going on on Friday night. Um, as I entered the office, it was a Friday morning. It was beautiful outside and I was very fortunate because Dr.

00:43:58,670	Oban, um, greeted me there in the office and he said, Mr. Eastgate, great, you’re here today. A buddy walk is going on outside or around the track and the entire school is about to pour out the doors. How do you feel about us not sitting in the aisle? I was like, fantastic. So, um, I was super excited to be there.

00:44:12,730	Literally as we walked outside of the office, there were just every grade, all the kids, all the educators were just pouring out the doors. Um, we’ve had a chance to hear about it a little bit as board members, but peer to peer is an amazing organization that celebrates kids of all abilities in our district.

00:44:27,700	It started at the high school level. Um, it’s now trickling into our, our middle school level as well. And it’s such a great program, and I know, uh, Mrs. Tammy Doppler and the Special Education Department and Horizon kind of helped coordinate and orchestrate this, but all the teachers were out there, all the education. are out there, all the kids.

00:44:41,530	They had a DJ. The music was pumping. Kids were on a walk, um, and throughout that entire week, this is kind of, I believe, the culmination of a whole week of just celebrating students of all abilities. And so it was, it was very upbeat, it was uplifting. We had some parents there as well.

00:44:55,970	Um, and I, it was fun for me. I have to say a little bit selfishly, just to mix it up a little bit as a school board member at a school visit and that I had a chance to interact with just kids of all grades as they’re coming by and in a pretty informal setting.

00:45:09,130	High fiving, kind of dancing. Bebop into the music a little bit and it was also fun just to get a chance to talk to so many educators. You talk about thinking, uh, think a teacher, Mrs. Peter, to me, that was kind of my goal as I went on the track. Um, Dr. Oban was right in stride with me.

00:45:21,100	And so we had a chance to still visit and talk about the the great things going on at Horizon. I’ve had two students myself go through there with a 3 there right now. And so I’m pretty well familiar with the school itself. Um, Horizon’s in good hands, Dr. Oban’s doing a real nice job up there.

00:45:35,930	He talked about just how, how good the school feels, um, this year, just about. Hoping try to continue to build good culture. Um, he talks some things we talked a little bit about budgets and how things are going there and how those are going really well, teachers understanding that we do have some budget constraints that go

00:45:50,430	on at times and how they’re they’re submitting kind of some of those internal requests that they might have to Dr. Oban and he’s been able to say yes to all of them because they fit our needs, not maybe always our wants, but they’re coming with needs and he’s able to grant that.

00:46:04,830	Talked about career ready practices. Um, so those are great things as well. I don’t want to make it sound like all we did was run around a track, but, um, I think one of the. Anything just to highlight that peer to peer I think is a great thing as well. Um, and it’s continuing throughout, throughout our entire district.

00:46:15,630	I mean, Mr. Lee, I, I got a chance last week to watch your nephew throw a touchdown to my son, which is super fun playing flag football with inclusive sports at the bowl or at the dome. I’m sorry. Um, so just a lot of great things.

00:46:29,330	I, I just think it’s awesome that we’re continuing to see kids benefit from that as well across our entire spectrum of students. So I had an awesome time in Horizon. Um, my next visit was at BEP just this last week. I got to go to BSEP.

00:46:42,700	Um, as I was, as I walked in, I was greeted by Jenny there and I, I had a chance to sit down with Mrs. Bach and Mrs. Olson and Mrs. Carlson, and they presented me with my Teaching them to be kind and what a great message, um, talking about the digging index that fits really well, so I got this great t-shirt. Thank you. Um, and beyond that, again, so many great things going on.

00:47:01,900	I learned a lot. I learned a lot because BSEP is not like all of our other buildings, um, you know, I had, they gave me kind of a little cheat sheet, which I’ll just briefly show with everybody, but it, it talks about right track, early head start, Head Start community friends and early childhood special education,

00:47:18,030	which is all taught there, um. Kids, they’re doing, you know, prenatal education with parents all the way up to kindergarten students in that building. And some of those are, uh, federally funded, federally mandated programs, and some of those are working right alongside and strictly for BPS, um, and so learning a lot about that, but again, more than

00:47:33,870	anything, when we talk about people before programs, uh, Dr. Fasn or Mrs. Bakken I’m not sure I have to think or blame, but there was a photo that got out of the BPS website. Um, I had a chance to go into Mrs. Carrie Kudson’s classroom.

00:47:46,900	I joke about the blame, but I had the great joy of sitting down till 74 year old boys. Um, that were there that were part of early childhood special education as well as a couple of community friends and what a cool deal.

00:47:58,570	So these four year olds are all learning, you know, we a nose is, where a chin is, and an elbow, and the way they learn that is by putting band-aids on a, on a dummy there in the classroom. And that day I got to be the dummy. And so, um, fitting. Uh, no, but it was really great. It was, it was truly super fun to get to interact with these kids.

00:48:11,730	They were so much fun. They’re, they’re so quick to just be so welcoming. We have a lot to learn from 4 year olds, just so welcoming. And uh after that, We had a chance to tour BA.

00:48:27,870	I think that school, they’re serving over 606 families right out of that school, not always there internally in the building, but quite often they are. And monthly, um, through some of the Head Start program, just quickly looking at some of my notes. Uh, they’re doing such great things with families as well.

00:48:45,330	Um, doing, you know, they’re, they’re taking, uh, new parents out once a month socials to a cooking class, to the zoo, to the pumpkin patch, doing some education along with that, um, helping some of these folks, uh, with some of their early childhood interventions. And so just some great things that the district is doing with resources that they have to help with those.

00:48:58,870	Um, we stepped into a head, uh, into one of the Head Start classrooms as well, and I had a chance to watch the kids during free choice and they’re kind of rambling around and so 3 little boys helped make me some food in the kitchen, much like we learned about tonight about child nutrition.

00:49:12,230	So super, super fun, um, and I, I just so appreciate the staff and all the great work they’re doing there with young kids as well as parents and helping us do a good job with kids. Um, just the last note as I left Beast up, it was just kind of fun.

00:49:22,970	There was some recess going on and I just stopped before I got my truck just to, you know, you kind of got to take in that Sandlot view of the kid just running around. And I have this little kid kind of wipes out on the track and just all these kids gather. Are you OK? And they help up this little 34 year old kid.

00:49:35,300	And again, you know, I mentioned we have a lot to learn from 4 year olds. We just have a lot to learn from kids. You watch kids on a playground at that age and you, you kind of learn how we can interact and, and care about each other as well. So BSO’s doing so many good things. Uh, there’s a, There’s a lot there.

00:49:47,900	There’s a lot there to share about the, the community friends is a lot like peer to peer, even at the BSEP level. Um, so so many great people that make those programs happen, but it’s about the people, um, and so just really honored to as a board member to get to go view and witness some of that.

00:50:02,370	So those are my two visits tonight. Thanks for listening board members. Um, moving on with the agenda. We have item 7, which is the consent agenda. What are the wishes of the board? Since I haven’t talked much tonight. Thank you, Ms. Preskey Preskey. I’ll move that we adopt the consent agenda.

00:50:26,470	Somebody else has to that though, so. And Mr. Hager with the 2nd. Thank you. Mr. Sheriff if you call a roll, please. Lee Peterson he’s Gate. Yes, motion passes. Item 8 is the superintendent’s report, 88 community transportation forums, Dr. Fastna, I guess it’s my time to talk now. I’ve been talked much either.

00:50:51,400	Um, yeah, I just wanted to give you and I guess our listeners online a little update of what we’ve been doing in regard to that transportation forums, um. Right now we’ve completed 3 community forums with the consensus council.

00:51:16,570	I think those have been good attendance, um, when you think of 28,000 parents, 14,000 kids were just scratching the surface, right? And we heard that right away in our first forum and within the second one, and I wasn’t able to be at the 3rd, but my team tells me the same thing, just how we going to get more input? How are we going to get more people to be involved, particularly when, when we did and we changed the message as we went.

00:51:30,400	It was a transportation report that drove this discussion, so we’d kind of put it underneath that qualifier that name as we went out, but quickly realized people weren’t picking up that the recommendation was some bell time schedule changes.

00:51:47,930	So we’re very intentional to put that out in the 2nd and the 3rd form to make sure we got more people we did, um, so I think that’s been really well again, the consensus council, as you’re well aware, will take all that input from those evenings and kind of wrap that into a summary. Um, document which will go to operational excellence and I’m sure back to you so you’ll receive that when it’s done.

00:52:05,600	They’re working on it. We were just emailing with and at consensus council today. Um, But that’s not all. Once we got to through the first meeting and said, OK, 3 focus groups is not probably enough.

00:52:26,470	Since that time, all of my team has been out into other opportunities that could be PTO meetings which I have one tonight right after this. It could be an IPAC meeting any time that our principals are saying, hey, we’re gathering some parents in our building, would you want to come over? Is that work in your schedule? We’re trying to accommodate that and get to those, do a really short version.

00:52:43,530	Of the presentation because we don’t have the, the group part of it. You’ve all been there, that group dialogue part, but just to listen and then we’ve been transcribing that feedback and then also giving that the consensus council so they can wrap that into their recommendations and I guess they’re not recommendations or report and, uh, just make sure

00:53:00,530	we capture it all. So I think that’s been a positive, but I wanted to just share with you as we continue to go down this path. I do believe that there’s. A need to maybe protract the decision the initial decision-making process, push it out a little bit to allow some parents, some community members, some more input, and

00:53:20,400	then, um, make sure that we’re just informing people, make sure we’re not leaving a blind spot somewhere and I’m not saying we’re gonna get to all 48,000 parents because sometimes you just don’t know, right? But I don’t think anyone’s gonna be able to criticize us for not trying.

00:53:37,400	We’re going to try our very best to be open and communicative and and try to hear people. So What I gave to you, I guess what’s on the, um, On the screen tonight is kind of the the timeline for decision making coming forward, um, we have already put out in social the initial, uh, slide show that we shared at the

00:53:55,070	first meeting, um, there will be more coming out on social so parents can access it, but we want to have the meeting tonight just to bring it up. People can hear it in case they’ve missed it, they can, we’re talking about changing bell schedule to make our, um, transportation system safer, higher quality and more

00:54:12,730	efficient, more reliable, um, so. Share more about that, we’ll talk about the process, but then today we did a video of that presentation just for staff, and that’s being in, that’s in production now that I’ll go out to survey to make sure our internal public all hears it because they all can’t get to meetings either all the

00:54:31,530	time, but so they hear the message from me and what we’re planning to do, what we’re thinking about doing, and then allow them a conduit to give us feedback. Then October 14th to the 25th we’ll just continue going to PTO. IPAC meetings, school-based meetings we’ll continue to do that.

00:54:50,100	We have some that are arriving in our inboxes almost every day from principals, so we’ll continue to address those. The plan is to take just to give a short process update to operational excellence is what we’re doing this timeline, how we’re garnering more feedback in late October. November 5th is election day. Um, you might say, well, why is that protract decision making.

00:55:14,070	I do think it’s important for us to listen to our voters. I mean, I am no way saying vote yes or vote no. That’s not my job. My job deals in the facts, um, everybody else can make their own mind, you know, you’re, you go to the ballot box, you cast your own vote, but I do think, um, for

00:55:31,930	us, it would be informative to hear what the voters say, and they’re going to answer that by the. 6th of November, we’ll know how they feel about some of these, the costs that we have within the public school system and particularly for um transportation when you just look at the Harlow’s contract,, $3.

00:55:52,530	6 million and what the state reimburses us for that cost of the district, um, Local taxation picking up 67% of it. So the state’s not even close to what they do for general operating like for cost of education, they’re well below that for transportation reimbursement.

00:56:15,030	So I think the future based on what measure for, what we say with measure for we all cast our vote matters because most of that uh we have a substantial portion of our transportation costs coming from local taxation. And, and, and I think, um, measure 41. won’t have a significant impact year one because we’re supposed to be supposed to be stable funded.

00:56:37,930	I, I think the, the concern I would have is what happens year 3, year 5, year 10, and I think we have to take that into consideration, but again, I think we let our voters decide first and then we’ll know. Then we can act.

00:56:52,430	So based on the election day, my thought was to get a video and, and a parent survey out the week after and the week of November 11th, and then let parents weigh in about what they see as good bad questions.

00:57:12,200	Have you thought of type stuff about the bell time change and then end of November, get it back to operational excellence to build a recommendation for the board, bring that to the board meeting on November 25th and Give you a, here’s our recommendation and then also hear your question. So between now and then, what questions do you have? What questions do you hear people asking, what do you say? Well, Jeff, that was a great record. That was a great proposal, great recommendation, but you forgot this.

00:57:27,700	And then give us a month to respond to your questions like here’s what we see as the challenges. We heard this from you, how do we have to fix it? What do we have to do? Um, and then come back in early January, which is a little bit longer than we planned initially.

00:57:43,170	But I think it’s well within a proper timeline for us to then take, let the board take a final act on if they endorse this change or not, and really it’s up in the air, um, you can reject it and we’ll continue with where we are, or you could take the recommendations, whatever those may be, and move forward, but

00:58:00,770	we’ll do that in early January. That should give plenty of time, I guess my point is I should get plenty of time, um, for our parents and our families to hear the message, hear the message a couple of times. their feedback and then we can take all that in before we make a recommendation.

00:58:18,730	Uh, hopefully you’re OK with that? Yes, board members, any comment or question for Dr. Fosna. Looks like the board’s OK with that. All right, well, we’ll do our very best to do that again, um, for patrons, I’ve been really trying to be as open and transparent and informative as we can because these are tough choices.

00:58:43,430	These are tough decisions and we want to make sure we have safe, reliable, and efficient transportation system, um, when we promise to be up at a at a pickup point within a certain timeframe, I have the same expectations as our parents that we’re there, so it’s about being there.

00:58:58,970	And picking up her kids so they’re safe, get them to school and then get them back home safe. And so that’s at the heart of what we’re doing, so. OK That is all I had tonight. Thanks for bringing that Dr. Fosna.

00:59:13,870	Thanks to your team as well for being in all those community forums and presenting to the public, being willing to answer the questions of the public. We certainly appreciate it, um, all agenda items have been considered. I declare this