Superintendent Elstad held an open discussion session on Friday January 26, 2024 at the district office on Bridge Street, 8:30-9:30am. 

First, he discussed the ongoing work regarding the elementary school attendance boundary lines, including an update from the first Input Team meeting that took place at OMS 1/23/2024. Mr. Elstad noted that the last time major school changes occurred was in the 2017-2018 school year when Willow Creek was officially closed and became McKinley school. Old McKinley became Washington Elementary, old Washington became the Owatonna Education Center, while Lincoln and Wilson schools stayed the same. New boundary lines are expected to be finalized in March with the additional decision for when those changes will take place (school year 2024-205 or fall 2025). He noted that when considering these new boundary lines, the design team can only consider what building plans are currently in place.  Speculation can occur for future housing and development, but the team can only rely on what is known at this time. There was some discussion about the minimal changes in diversity amongst the schools (demographics, special education needs, race/ethnicity, etc) despite new boundary lines. A community member noted that years ago, working as a teacher in Owatonna, a committee had considered a primary school for grades K-2 and an intermediate school for grades 3-5. This concept brought more balance to the schools, but was shot down pretty quickly by parents at the time. Mr. Elstad noted that this idea was considered but ultimately not brought to the table due to the more complicated nature of changing schools in this way, adding bussing, increased costs, moving teachers and supplies, longer time needed for transitioning, and taking away from the “neighborhood school” concept that families tend to prefer. Mr. Elstad also noted that a community member called him and discussed that while diversity is a good thing, he still desires for his children to go to a school where there are more students that have similar cultural appearances and values as they do. Noted. As people, it’s our human nature to be drawn toward others with similar values, interests, and commonalities.

Next, Mr. Elstad discussed the READ Act and the new phonics curriculum that our schools will be using. He mentioned a podcast called, “Sold a Story” https://features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/, which explains how our nation veered away from phonics and started teaching reading differently, but how we need to go back to phonics teaching. Mainly, the new curriculum requires much additional teacher training and because of this, the school calendar will be revised to reflect this. Our winter reading assessments are either completed or almost completed and are already showing benefits of the phonics programs in place.

Thirdly, Superintendent Elstad noted that we have enhanced cybersecurity in process. About one year ago, the Rochester school district had a major breach of security and ransom request, which seemed to result from sharing too much information to the public. Therefore, the district is carefully sharing only pertinent information. If you have further questions, please contact Mr. Elstad.

Lastly, he reiterated that the district continues to develop our own “Grow Your Own” teacher development program for students, staff and community members through 3 different pathways. Chris Picha, our director of human services, is the one to contact for more details and information!

There were just a few questions by those in attendance. One was regarding the possible equipment issues for an industrial program at OHS. Mr. Elstad believes that this is regarding the backlog and back order of supplies for our robotics students. While equipment and supply orders were placed about 18 months ago, these things have been delayed and outside of the district’s control.

There was a question about student parking permits and Mr. Elstad noted that students no longer need to purchase these as the new high school has ample parking availability. One opinion stated by a community member was that we should continue to charge for parking permits so that we can bring in funding for the district.

Mr. Elstad noted that Wee Pals daycare https://weepalschildcarecenter.org/ approached the district requesting temporary space due to problems with their current location. They are working out the details yet, but we expect to be housing the Wee Pals daycare program at the Owatonna Education Center (OEC) beginning April 1st through November 30, 2024. He noted that OEC staff are on board and that this is a great benefit to the community to be able to help Wee Pals stay open and provide daycare for many families during their transition. 

The 1921 high school building will soon be taken down. The historic shield from the front of the building is currently being refurbished and will be placed at the new school upon completion.

The district is considering selling the district buildings on Bridge Street and Rose Street once the old C-plaza is fully remodeled for district offices. More to come once they have more information on this.

The next Coffee with the Superintendent will be March 1, 2024 at 8:30am at the district office on Bridge Street. 

Thanks all, have a great week! 

The regular school board meeting began at 5:30pm at the Charles S Crandall Center Chambers. Regular board meetings are recorded and can be viewed from the district website or YouTube: https://www.isd761.org/our-district/school-board/meeting-dates

Mission Moment, as given by Superintendent Elstad, recognized 3 district support staff for dedicated hard work of many years. This was for Gwen Vogt, Curt Matajcek, and David Purdie. Thank you for your service to our schools and students!

No comments for Public Forum.

For the Human Resources update, Chris Picha presented information regarding the partnership between Owatonna Public Schools, Mankato State University (MSU), and Minneapolis Public Schools in effort to encourage education degrees, and retain and recruit teachers. In the last 15 years, close to $8.7 million has been awarded in grant money to growing the teacher profession in Minnesota. Owatonna Public Schools is one of 7 districts in Southern MN that are participating in this program, this grouping of districts forms the MEP. There are three pathways for participants.

1. High school students in grades 10-12: involves the Teachers of Tomorrow program which has 9 components, students work with MSU and a Navigator, visit colleges, attend summer teacher academy, apply for dedicated scholarships
2. District employees and community members with an AA degree: tuition stipend and college choice, work with a Navigator, work with a Mentor Teacher, summer teacher academy at MSU, tutoring and resources available
3. District paraprofessionals or Education Assistants and community members with an AA degree: work through a Teacher Apprenticeship, “on the job training” and pay during participation

There was a lot of information and I understand that all of the pathways encourage students of color to apply, but it is a requirement for one or more of the pathways. Also, the apprenticeship program is only for Special Education teachers. Please clarify these details with Ms. Picha if interested. Each pathway has the potential to lead to a Tier 3 teaching license for which we would love to see our local participants stay and teach in Owatonna. However, this is not a stipulation for the program. Contact Chris Picha or OHS principal Kory Kath for more information. The application deadline is March 10, 2024 as listed in the presentation, but to be safe, I’d apply by March 1, 2024!

No significant changes noted in the Enrollment Report.

Many reports during Board Forum:

1. our student representatives shared information regarding the OHS Magnet print edition release, Mock Trial, Speech meet, Compass, and music ensemble performances
2. In light of November’s World’s Best Workforce (WBWF) presentation, December’s truth in taxation presentation, and the January work session update from Lincoln about Functional Phonics and FastBridge assessments, I shared a graph from an article at the American Experiment. Each member of the board plus our superintendent and the administrative assistant received a copy (of which I asked to be put in the meeting notes and minutes online if possible). The graph shows reading and math proficiency rates plus the dollar amount of per pupil spending each year beginning in 2013 through 2023. Essentially, the graph reveals declining proficiency despite the increased spending in education in Minnesota. As I review all of this information, I asked the board to consider a future discussion on this topic including assessments (are MCA and NWEA tests the best way to assess proficiency and if not, then how can we do it better?) Can we see assessment scores sooner rather than later to see if things are going well or not well so far this year? If we don’t see improvements by next November’s WBWF presentation, then what? How do our teachers feel about all of this? Are they struggling or are things going well? How can we make OPS the best district in Minnesota? 
3. Facilities committee report: ongoing punchlist items being done at OHS plus ongoing work in the old OHS building where the new district offices will be, and prep for final demolition of the old buildings.
4. Coffee with the Superintendent at the district office on Bridge Street, 8:30am Friday January 26, 2024. Anyone can come!
5. Policy committee report: NEW policy has been created by the committee regarding Library Materials. This is given to the board to review and will come back to the board for a second reading and approval next month. Consider contacting our policy committee members if you have suggestions for this policy (Lori Weisenburger, Jolayne Mohs, Tim Jensen). Updated policy for graduation requirements based on the MN Legislature this year is also reviewed for a first reading.

Superintendent Elstad gave a brief Administrative Report highlighting meetings with area legislators to discuss recent state mandates. There will be a school calendar revision coming soon to accommodate staff training. Also, ongoing work is being done for the elementary school attendance boundary lines. The first Input Team meeting was 1/23/2024 and the next will be 2/20/2024, 6-8pm at Owatonna Middle School. This is open to the public for observation only.

The consent agenda is approved covering previous meeting minutes, the disbursement report and personnel report.

Board approval was given to add Nicole Schulz to the Board of Directors of the ISD 761 Foundation. Mr. Sebring noted that there are vacancies on the board of directors for this foundation. Also approved were Gifts to the District. Notably, about $170,000 has been given from the ISD 761 Foundation and Mr. Voss donated $1500 for a bench in memory of his wife Cindy Voss who was a district employee and passed away recently. Thank you.

Meeting adjourned. I’m hoping to attend Friday’s Coffee with the SI, see you there!

Beginning last year, the district began conversations with the school board about possible changes in boundary lines for our elementary school attendance. Three main reasons for this: 1. increased enrollment at some of the schools (now exceeding capacity at Lincoln) with room to spare at others (Wilson). 2. Maintain or improve program equity so all students have the learning opportunities they need. 3. Balance enrollment trends as the Owatonna community is expanding and more housing is available. The process is outlined on the school district website: https://www.isd761.org/our-district/school-board/boundaries/ 

Tonight was the first Input Team meeting at the Owatonna Middle School. This meeting was open to the public to observe, but only Input Team members were allowed to give formal comments as the “input team.” Up to this point, the Design Team has been working with a consult group, Teamworks, using their analytics services and projected enrollment process to look at many factors affecting boundary lines. Two models, including maps and data information, were presented to the Input Team tonight.

Superintendent Elstad began the meeting, stressing the importance of transparency with the community, then introduced Ray Queener, with the consult group Teamworks, who led the meeting. There were about 27 members present tonight for the Input Team and consisted of parents, teachers, a social worker, a behavior interventionist, a school counselor, a few administrative staff, and a few Early Childhood Advisory Council members. In small groups they discussed benefits and concerns for each model, plus gave suggestions for improvements. Each small group presented a summary to the group as a whole and the completed notes were given to the Teamworks leader for review by the Design Team and Superintendent.

Ray Queener also stressed that once the Design and Input Teams are finished with their work, 2 model plans will be presented to the school board. The board will then either accept one of the plans or reject both plans at which time the Design Team will go back to work making modifications. The school board will not change or even tweak the model plans, but simply accept or reject the plans.

The public can review all the information on the district website and anyone can fill out a Feedback Form which is available through 1/26/2024. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd8W2BW1u2hI_vb878uQSKsGs7CxTSDTaMRg02SW0vse7In3g/viewform.

The Design Team will meet again on 1/29/2024 to review the feedback. 

The second Input Team meeting will be on 2/20/2024 6-8pm at OMS.

Coffee with the Superintendent is Friday 1/26/2024 8:30am at the district office on Bridge Street.

Tomorrow I will post a summary from Monday’s school board meeting!

Our first school board meeting of 2024 began with the annual Organizational Meeting. This meeting includes multiple votes, including that for the Election of Officers, Committee assignments, and various legal and business decisions. All votes seemed to be typical and routine with no major changes from last year.

Election of Officers:

• Chairperson- Mark Sebring

• Vice Chairperson- Lori Weisenburger

• Clerk- Eric Schuster

• Treasurer- Jolayne Mohs

School Board Committee assignments: https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/1055?meeting=615873

These assignments are made by the chair each year. In the interest of participating on a committee that I could offer more interest and experience, I had recently asked Mr. Sebring for an assignment change for the 2024 year. He noted in the meeting that no changes were made but that requests for future assignment changes can be made toward the end of the year for next year.

Mrs. Julie Sullivan, our director of teaching and learning, was named the representative for Title I Funding.

The People’s Press was named as the district’s official newspaper.

School board meetings will continue on the second and fourth Mondays of each month at 5:30pm at a district designated place.

Two law firms were approved to continue to offer legal counsel for the district: Dorsey & Whitney, and Ratwik, Roszak & Maloney.

Designated district depositories will continue to be Bremer Bank and PMA Financial Network for monies necessary to meet payrolls, activity account monies, and school district revenues needed to meet its general accounts, savings, and federal income tax withholding obligations.

Financial institutions authorized to invest district assets include: Wells Fargo Bank NA, US Bank, Well Fargo Investment Service Inc, PMA Financial Network Inc, and Bremer Bank.

The board approved authorization of the Director of Finance and Operations, the Controller or designee, to deposit and withdraw money on behalf of the district to the checking and investment accounts.

The board approved cosigners of district checks to be the Chair, Clerk, and Treasurer, and for use of the district’s check signing machine.

The board approved an allowance increase of $100 for a total of $3700 to each board member with an additional $600 to the Chair, dispersed over 24 pay periods in 2024.

The board approved an appointment of the Superintendent to serve as Deputy Treasurer of the district, assisting the Treasurer in carrying out the duties of Treasurer.

The board approved the 2023-2025 Agreement with the Local 147, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Secretarial/Clerical Employees and authorized the Chair and Clerk to execute the agreement on behalf of the school board.

The board approved the 2023-2025 Agreement with Owatonna Educational Assistant Staff and authorized the Chair and Clerk to execute the agreement on behalf of the school board.

Finally, the monthly Personnel Report was approved, and the Organizational Meeting was adjourned.

Immediately following, we proceeded to begin the monthly work session which primarily focused on reports from Lincoln Elementary School and OHS.

Mary Hawkins, principal of Lincoln, presented information regarding Social Emotional Learning, Professional Learning and Collaboration, and Academics. Joining her were 3 teachers, and the teaching and learning coach. They focused the presentation on the Functional Phonics program for K-2 students. This has been a great success so far and the teachers and students have had good experiences. They will be doing winter benchmark assessments this week and are eager to see the results.

Kory Kath, principal of OHS, presented with the Dean of Students Doug Wanous, and assistant principals Hollie Jeska and Phil Wiken. They discussed transitions, working within the new high school building and deciding what is working well and what could be done better for the 2024-2025 school year in this new space. Mr. Kath discussed the Social Studies changes based on recent legislation which has changed the graduation requirements. Mr. Elstad noted that this will also require policy 613 to be updated and will be addressed at a future board meeting. Students need to have 3.5 social studies credits to graduate, Personal Finance is required for all students in grade 10, 11 or 12 and civics is required in grade 11 or 12. OHS continues to offer advanced electives and entry courses which go above and beyond state requirements.

Owatonna Public Schools uses the model of MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support). This identifies 3 tiers of students and the supports available to them. About 80% of students fall in the bottom tier and do well in school without extra interventions. About 15% of students fall into the second tier and are considered “at risk.” They qualify for short term counseling, social skills groups, mentoring or tutoring, a special education evaluation, IEP or 504 plan, the WIN or REACH programs. Then about 5% of students fall into the top tier which is for high risk students who require intensive monitoring and supervision, ongoing counseling, treatment programs, alternative education options, special education resources and direct instruction. These students can qualify for the MN Model and work with the Behavior Interventionist. The rest of the presentation given at the meeting specifically addressed some of these interventions available to our at risk and high risk students.

Mr. Wanous discussed the WIN program. This is for students that have 10 or more absences from school. Once a student has 5 absences, he is notified and tries to work with the student to identify barriers for school attendance. However, if the student continues to miss school, up to 10 absences, they become part of the WIN program. He works with them to build a relationship, and offers financial incentives such as gift cards for meeting attendance goals.

Ms. Jeska noted that for the first time, we have a General Education Social Worker at OHS. In the past, social workers have only worked through special education. Ms. Jeska applied for a grant and OHS has been awarded the MN Model state grant. The goal with this grant is to decrease the “school to prison pipeline.” The school is partnering with South Central Humans Relations Center to offer counseling and treatment to students at no charge to their family. Our schools also have Behavior Interventionists, funded by Special Education monies, to help students with self regulation, and also reduces disruptive behaviors in the classroom.

Mr. Wiken discussed student driven course planning, meaning that our course offerings are based on graduation requirements and student interests. If approved by the District Curriculum Advisory Committee and the school board, there will be 12 new courses next year. They are creating an online student hub which will be a “one-stop shop” for student resources and registration. February starts the registration process and by March 7th, registration will close. There will be planning meetings for course registration on February 7 and 21, and March 6, 2024.

During Board Forum, Superintendent Elstad mentioned that they continue to work through the Guiding Change elementary boundaries process. They have developed an Input Team of staff and parents, and will have open meetings to discuss this further. These meetings are public but only the team members are allowed to make comments. These meetings will take place at OMS on January 23 and February 20, 2024 from 6-8pm : https://www.isd761.org/our-district/school-board/boundaries

Lastly, Superintendent Elstad noted that the district was approached by Wee Pals daycare center due to the unexpected need to find a new facility for the daycare by April 1, 2024. In working with our Community Education director, Deb McDermott-Johnson and Superintendent Elstad, the district is able to help Wee Pals and the many families that use Wee Pals for daycare, beginning April 1 through December 2024. The daycare will be utilizing space at the Owatonna Education Center. Knowing how challenging it is to find daycare, I am glad that our district could help the community in this way. Thank you Deb and Mr. Elstad and all the staff and students at OEC for sharing your space with Wee Pals.

Wow, a lot of info here! Bundle up Owatonna, it’s getting cold as a typical Minnesota winter should be. Stay safe and watch out for slippery ice. Isn’t ice always slippery?? Anyway, take care. Soli Deo Gloria.

With only one meeting in December, Monday December 11, 2023 was the school board’s last meeting for the year, so this was a regular meeting and not a work session. Superintendent Elstad began with Mission Moment, recognizing our orchestra teachers who recently received a string award. Present at the meeting tonight was Ms. Lisa Revier who works at our elementary schools, Ms. Jennifer Bellefeuille who works at the middle school, and Ms. Sandra Justice works at our high school. I am so thankful for our music departments and the ability of OPS to offer such great programs. Thank you orchestra teachers!

During public forum, Mr. Roger Wacek reiterated his comments from the August meeting, stating the importance of apprenticeships for our students which helps to prepare them for success after high school. Thank you Mr. Wacek.

Owatonna Public Schools recently had its annual audit through CliftonLarsonAllen LLP and presenting this information to board was Mary Reedy, CPA, CGFM, along with Lori Volz and Sarah Cramblit. Overall, the report was “clean” with no compliance issues or material weaknesses. For fiscal year 2022-2023, the estimated total adjusted average daily enrollment was 4,826, reduced from the 2021-2022 year when it was 4,880. The district’s unassigned fund balance is exceeding our goal of 8-10% of the general fund expenditures, and is currently at 12.45%. As stated in the audit report, ” A district’s fund balance is an important aspect in considering the district’s financial wellbeing since a healthy fund balance represents things such as cash flow, as a cushion against unanticipated expenditures, enrollment changes, funding deficiencies, and aid prorations at the state level and similar problems.” Also noted was the “budget to actual” summary stating that the total net revenues were 0.26% lower than estimated and total expenditures were 1.24% lower than budgeted, resulting in an increase of the total fund balance of $829,964 more than the final budget plan. Mr. Elstad commented on how well our finance team has managed the district budget and we are sitting financially much better than many other Minnesota districts.

At 6pm, we heard the Truth in Taxation presentation, given by Lori Volz. As outlined in the notes, there are 6 steps in the school district property tax process.

Step 1: City or county assessor determines estimated market value for each parcel of property

Step 2: Legislature sets formulas for tax capacity and school district levy limits

Step 3: County auditor calculates tax capacity for each parcel of property, as well as total tax capacity for each school district

Step 4: MN Dept of Education calculates detailed levy limits for each school district, based on formulas approved by legislature

Step 5: School board adopts a proposed levy in September. After a public hearing, board adopts a final levy in December. Final levy cannot be more than proposed levy, except for amounts approved by voters. (Current step)

Step 6: County auditor divides final levy by district’s total capacity to determine tax rate needed to raise levy amount

The full meeting notes including the TNT presentation can be viewed here: https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/1055?meeting=613199

The enrollment report was reviewed with no significant changes.

During board forum, I asked about the annual organizational meeting in January 2024. At this meeting, we will have several votes, including those for school board officers (Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Clerk) as well as approve the committee assignments as placed by the board chair (Board Committees, District Committees, Outside Agency Committees). Due to medical reasons, I was not able to attend this meeting in January 2023 and am researching these procedures to prepare for this meeting next month. At the school board meeting this week, Mr. Sebring stated that he will be contacting each board member to discuss placements for the upcoming year. As I understand board work, each board member is equal, and we should be equally divided to represent the board among these committees. I will look to see how this is done in the coming weeks.

Superintendent Elstad commented on the Guiding Change document previously referenced and is a work in progress to determine elementary school boundary lines. They hope to have a final determination by March 2024. He continues to work with the organization Schools for Equity in Education to lessen the tax burden for Owatonna residents. Finally, praise was given for the completion of the roundabout on Hwy 218 and 18th Street which has improved traffic flow and safety for our staff and students at the high school.

Votes taken:

Consent agenda approved 6-0 which included the 11/27/2023 meeting minutes and the personnel report

Audit for year ended 6/30/2023 approved as presented 6-0

Tax Levy Limitation and Certification approved as presented 6-0

Policy Revisions approved 6-0 for policies 416, 506, 507, 532, 534, 603, 604

Policy Revisions approved 5-1 for policies 413 and 601. At the last meeting, I raised questions and concerns about these policy revisions and have restated them here. The policy committee elected to not make any further changes and the board had no further discussion on these concerns. I do not feel that these policies are written with the ultimate safety and protection of our children and our education system, and therefore I voted no.

Policy 413 Harassment and Violence

III. Definitions

D. Protected Classifications: Definitions

6. The original definition to be replaced: “Sexual orientation” means having or being perceived as having an emotional or physical or sexual attachment to another person without regard to the sex of that person or having or being perceived as having an orientation for such attachment, or having or being perceived as having a self-image or identity not traditionally associated with one’s biological maleness or femaleness. “Sexual orientation” does not include a physical or sexual attachment to children by an adult.

The new definition will state: “Sexual orientation” means to whom someone is, or is perceived of as being emotionally, physically, or sexually attracted to based on sex or gender identity. A person may be attracted to men, women, both, neither, or to people who are genderqueer, androgynous, or have other gender identities.

My proposal in this change is to maintain the last statement of the original definition and keep this statement in the new definition. My reason for this is to clarify and state that a physical or sexual attraction by an adult to a student is not acceptable.

Policy 601 School District Curriculum and Instruction Goals

III. Definitions

D. “Culturally sustaining” means integrating content and practices that infuse the culture and language of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities who have been and continue to be harmed and erased through the education system. (This is a new definition not previously in policy 601.)

My concern for this definition is that the second half of the statement is an opinion and should not be stated as fact and policy. I fully agree with integrating a variety of ethnic cultures into our education system, but do not agree that “we continue to harm and erase” any cultures. I do not believe our teachers do this or that statutes and policy should state this. This policy definition comes from MN Statute 120B.11, and a simple reference to this statute in our policy would suffice in place of this statement. I do not imply that we do anything against the law.

State statutes provide law and a foundation for our policies, MSBA provides model policies to guide us, but we as an individual district can decide what we want our policies to be, within the boundaries of the law. If governance and policy development is the board’s primary work, then I believe that we should be discussing and evaluating these with more precision and thought.

Guiding Change document approved as presented 6-0

Resolution for Acceptance of Gifts to the district is approved as presented 6-0.

Meeting adjourned 6:39pm.

As I read some of the news articles over the last few weeks, I’m reminded how important it is that our schools remain a neutral place where any child or student can feel safe and welcome. https://elizabethforowatonnaschools.com/in-the-news/

We all recognize that our students will differ in many ways, and I think we can agree that education is the main focus and of utmost importance for our schools. What constitutes education may vary somewhat, but I hope that we all agree that a basic foundational education includes reading, writing, and mathematics. Each day, there are many “spinning plates” that need to be moving for optimal learning. Some of these plates are put into motion by our teachers, but many of the plates are set in motion by families. And sometimes the plates are missing, or they get left alone, sometimes they come crashing down, expectedly or unexpectedly. I understand that there are many challenges that face our students and teachers each day, but I don’t believe that we need a sign in the window or on the wall that tells our students that they are safe and welcome. We can recognize and support students’ unique gifts, talents, personalities and identities through the relationships we develop with them.

These pictures have been seen in Owatonna schools.

I believe in the right to free speech and the ability to display opinions on personal property. However, in a public school, funded by taxpayers and government, we need to keep personal opinions aside. Students can feel welcome, cared for, and supported by teachers and school staff without incorporating personal and political viewpoints.

Please help me in supporting a neutral, safe, learning environment for all our students.

Our regular school board meeting took place at the City Chambers and began at 5:30pm. After the call to order, Pledge of Allegiance and approval of the agenda, Superintendent Elstad used Mission Moment to highlight the OHS Magnet, our high school’s newspaper written by OHS students. This team of students and their director, Ms. Wagner, have achieved a Gold Ranking and Second Place for Best of Show recently. Congratulations to the Magnet team!

There were no comments for the public forum.

The enrollment report was reviewed briefly, no significant changes at this time, but we continue to note the growing difference in numbers of students between our elementary schools. Lincoln ranks highest with 150+ students more than the number of students at Wilson, which has the lowest enrollment. This is a work in progress as we use TeamWorks to help us redefine the boundary lines for school attendance in the future. The board recognizes that the upcoming changes may be very difficult for some families.

During board forum, our student representative announced that Newsies will be the first winter musical to take place in the new Wenger OHS auditorium!

The board completed a first reading of policies 413, 416, 506, 507, 532, 534, 601, 603, and 604. The policy committee reviews and updates policies and presents them to the board for questions or concerns. I had a few comments and questions that I will summarize here, however please watch the meeting video to hear the details. The policy discussion begins at approximately 10:41 into the meeting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYdGWJzfraY&list=PL7udvyWfNrd3ROTWcu7VO0Vt0NPX_ae51&index=1.

Policy 413 Harassment and Violence

III. Definitions

D. Protected Classifications: Definitions

6. The original definition to be replaced: “Sexual orientation” means having or being perceived as having an emotional or physical or sexual attachment to another person without regard to the sex of that person or having or being perceived as having an orientation for such attachment, or having or being perceived as having a self-image or identity not traditionally associated with one’s biological maleness or femaleness. “Sexual orientation” does not include a physical or sexual attachment to children by an adult.

The new definition will state: “Sexual orientation” means to whom someone is, or is perceived of as being emotionally, physically, or sexually attracted to based on sex or gender identity. A person may be attracted to men, women, both, neither, or to people who are genderqueer, androgynous, or have other gender identities.

My proposal in this change is to maintain the last statement of the original definition and keep this statement in the new definition. My reason for this is to clarify that a physical or sexual attraction by an adult to a student is not acceptable. The policy committee will discuss this at their next meeting and the board will have a second review of this policy at a later date.

Policy 506 Student Discipline

XI. Removal of Students From Class

B. If a student is removed from class more than 10 times in a school year, the school district shall notify the parent or guardian…

My concern was that 10 times is too many and that parents should be notified sooner. Mr. Elstad confirmed that the policy is written to follow state statute, but that Owatonna Public Schools has its own procedures that notify parents after one removal from class.

Policy 601 School District Curriculum and Instruction Goals

III. Definitions

D. “Culturally sustaining” means integrating content and practices that infuse the culture and language of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities who have been and continue to be harmed and erased through the education system. (This is a new definition not previously in policy 601.)

My concern for this definition is that the second half of the statement is an opinion and should not be stated as fact and policy. I fully agree with integrating a variety of ethnic cultures into our education system, but do not agree that “we continue to harm and erase” any cultures. I do not believe our teachers do this or that statutes and policy should state this. This policy definition comes from MN Statute 120B.11, and a simple reference to this statute in our policy would suffice in place of this statement. I do not imply that we do anything against the law.

Also in policy 601, IV. Long-term Strategic Plan, A. and B. and C., and in Policy 603 Curriculum Development sections V. and VI., there are multiple changes and several statements that are removed, specifically regarding literacy and reading. When asked about this, I was told that other policies will be updated in the future that address these things and therefore they are not needed here.

Lastly, policy 604 Instructional Curriculum

VI. Civics Test. (This whole section for a civics test requirement is crossed off as the MN Legislature has removed the civics test requirement for graduation.) I asked if OPS would still want to have a Civics class. Mr. Elstad confirmed that our district does have a requirement for students to take a Civics class despite not having to take a formal test as a requirement for graduation.

Mrs. Julie Sullivan, our director of teaching and learning, gave a summary report of the World’s Best Workforce presentation which I have previously outlined. Opportunities for questions were offered. I asked about the action steps moving forward to improve our numbers. Mrs. Sullivan and Mr. Elstad informed us that each school has unique goals and action steps based on the needs of that school. So while the action steps given here are generalized to encompass all schools, each school is working on its own individualized plan and programs.

The board reviewed the Guiding Change document by TeamWorks for the attendance area development project that relates to the enrollment report referenced above. We will vote on this document in December. Currently the design team is working on this project. Then in January, they expect to involve an “input team” of parents and teachers, with a goal for final decisions to be made in March 2024.

The consent agenda approval included minutes from the previous 2 meetings, the disbursement report, and the personnel report.

The board voted and approved 3 items:

1. Resolution Establishing Polling Places. Each year, the school board designates combined polling places, no changes were made.
2. World’s Best Workforce Plan
3. Gifts to the district. Of note, a large donation of $57,142 was given from the Thelma Rice estate in honor of Thelma Rice and Vernon Kasper.

Meeting adjourned.

To all the Mamas ~ The Christmas season is upon us, especially you. Take care, take deep breaths, pause here and there. We are making memories, some hard, but many good. Look at your children’s eyes, smile, kiss their foreheads. The best gift is your time.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given...” Isaiah 9:6

“…these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name.” John 20:31

We held our first school board meeting at the City Chambers office at 5:30pm on Monday. The new space is beautiful, with a board table, microphones, cameras and large screens. New furniture and carpet gave the air “that new car smell.”

New chambers aside, our work session immediately followed the World’s Best Workforce presentation. The numbers speak for themselves as do the proficiency rates on the MN Report Card: https://rc.education.mn.gov/#mySchool/orgId–10761000000__groupType–district__p–3

• Owatonna Public School district 2023: Math 46.7%, Reading 48.3%, Science 29%
• Owatonna High School 2023: Math 37.2%, Reading 55.5%, Science 32.6%

One important question we need to ask is how are we going to do things differently this year? If we only do more of the same things we have done before, I don’t expect that we will get the improved results we need. As a school board, we have yet to review and discuss this report and the planned action steps for moving forward.

Mrs. Lori Volz, the director of finance and operations, presented an in-depth enrollment report. The predictions for future enrollment show declining numbers in the next few years, but then overall stability out to 2033. The graphs revealed that the declining student enrollment mainly affects grade 1-5 over the next few years. This is suspected to be due to declining birth rates. Given that our schools’ primary funding depends on the number of students enrolled, this could dramatically affect our budget. This may require an increase in the operating levy and also more work to maximize all funding streams that we currently have.

Ms. Deb McDermott-Johnson, our director of community education, presented a fall update with coworkers Alexa and Lydia. Alexa works with our youth programs and coordinates enrollment. She reported that all 4 of our School Age Programs are now in full swing as they were able to hire enough staff. They have also hired a Floating Supervisor and an Enrichment Specialist. These roles have helped cover programming needs. Lydia manages our Adult Education programs. We have 6 program sites which gives us virtual abilities and regional programming. The details of this report can be viewed through the district website. Overall, the depth and breadth of opportunities for our community members is incredible. While we tend to focus on our students preK-12th grade, it is good to remember that our district also offers a multitude of educational benefits to many members of Owatonna. This, in part, is done through partnerships with businesses and organizations, plus the Career Pathways program.

After our school board retreat last August, at which time we reviewed our 3-year governance work plan, our Chair, Vice Chair and Superintendent were able to fine tune the details of this plan and bring it for the board to review at this meeting. Briefly, we discussed that there were many legislative updates this year, which in turn, requires us to update our policies. We also agreed that it is important for school board members to be present in the community, attending school and community events when possible. In the past, the district has held community forums, typically when big decisions are being made, such as those regarding the new high school. I questioned if we would ever consider doing an annual community forum for anyone to come and ask questions or raise concerns that they may have with our schools. This idea will be tabled for now as we have scheduled Coffee with the Superintendent sessions and a public forum opportunity once monthly at our regular school board meetings.

Superintendent Elstad gave a quarterly update on projects currently underway that align with the district’s strategic plans. This includes work on our cybersecurity and the reunification plan should any buildings need to be evacuated. Also, the project with TeamWorks is ongoing to evaluate the elementary school boundary lines, plus progress is made toward the Owatonna scholarship and our Grow Your Own teacher development program.

During Board Forum, our student representative mentioned that he is taking a self-guided tour of Rome in December with a group of students. What an incredible opportunity, best wishes for fun and safety and wonderful memories!!

Soon to come will be the results of our Desired Daily Experiences survey of students and families. In addition to this information, I am curious to know how our teachers are surveyed, what they are concerned about, what’s going well or not well, and if they feel safe in our schools. How would teachers change things to improve our proficiency scores?

Until next time, take care everyone. Soli Deo Gloria.

This week’s update will be divided into 2 posts because we essentially had 2 meetings on Monday. The World’s Best Workforce presentation began at 5pm and was given by Mrs. Julie Sullivan our director of teaching and learning and Mr. Ken Griswold our data and assessment coordinator. This is a summary of that presentation.

As stated on page 3 of the report, the requirements of the World’s Best Workforce include: developing district goals and plan strategies, align the district budget with the goals, hold an annual meeting to share results and gain community input, establish an advisory committee, annual board review and approval, submit a summary to the MN Dept of Education Commissioner, and then post the results on the district website.

Performance Measure 1: All children are ready for school.

• Fall 2022: composite 60% (4 measures 48-65%) of kindergarten students met literacy benchmarks (Fall 2021: composite 51% met literacy benchmarks)
• Goal for Fall 2023: 63% of students to meet literacy benchmarks
• Results: Fall 2023: 58% of kindergarten students met literacy benchmarks
• Goal for Fall 2024: 63% of students will meet benchmarks
• Action steps: focus instruction on phonemic awareness which was the weakest measurement of the composite score, increase screening for children at 3 years old, and continued emphasis on family and community outreach/engagement

Performance Measure 2: All third-graders can read at grade level (this measure was recently removed by the State, likely due to the new READ Act)

• Fall 2022: 47.3% of third-grade students were proficient on the MCA state reading assessment (Fall 2021: 47.2% proficient)
• Goal for Fall 2023: 60% of students proficient
• Results Fall 2023: 42.7% of third-grade students were proficient (Mrs. Sullivan noted that these students were in kindergarten when the pandemic started and were in and out of school for 2 years before finally having a more “normal” school year in second grade, and now just beginning third grade)
• Goal for Fall 2024: no goal is set due to this measure being removed
• Action steps: READ Act targets new professional development and training for staff/teachers, continue Functional Phonics, and a responsive approach to literacy teaching based on multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) which varies depending on the school and the specific behavioral/learning needs of the students at each school

Performance Measure 3: Close achievement gaps among all student groups

• Fall 2022 goal: close the gap in reading and math proficiency rates on MCA tests for all racial/ethnic/economic groups (10 categories) 1.5% by June 2023 (Fall 2021 goal: decrease achievement gaps 3% by June 2022)
• Past measures evaluated 2019 to 2022 in 10 categories show decreased gaps in 3 areas, and increased gaps or no change in 7 areas.
• Recent measures for these 10 categories show decreased gaps in 2 areas and increased gaps in 8 areas.
• Action steps: continue culturally responsive practices and co-teaching, increase enrollment of underrepresented student groups in specialized courses, utilize success coaches to promote home-to-school connections

Performance Measure 4: All students are ready for career and college

• Goal 20222-2023: 85% of graduates have earned credit in courses with college credit-earning potential or have earned a Bilingual Seal by spring 2023.
• 2023 Result: 82.4% (Goal for 2024 continues to be 85%)
• Goal 2022-2023: there will be a 3% increase in grades 10-12 students earning credit in advanced career and technical courses or in internships/mentorships (2022 59.2% of students met goal)
• 2023 Results: -0.7% / 58.5% of students met goal (Goal for 2024 continues to be 3% increase raising the number to 61.5%)
• Action steps: increase access to guidance resources and experiences through COMPASS days, Naviance, and career connections. Plus continue to develop career pathways programming and integrate 21st century skills in all curricula.

Performance Measure 5: All student graduate from high school. These numbers include our online school and the Alternative Learning Center. Due to not having graduation rates for 2023 yet, this measure is only up to date as of 2022.

• Goal for 2022: graduation rate will increase from 87 to 88% with no racial/ethnic group falling below 80% by 2023.
• Results:

All Students	87.6%
Black/African American	82.1%
Hispanic/Latino	70.1%
White	92.3%

• Action steps: increase academic support and opportunities for credit recovery, refine programs for students receiving English Learner services, create individual plans for all students at the ALC, increase student engagement in learning.

Included in the report but not in the presentation is information regarding our district’s Achievement and Integration Plan, teaching and learning framework, curriculum development, and staff development goals. All of this information can be found on the district website.

The annual World’s Best Workforce presentation starts at 5pm tonight and will be followed by the school board work session at 5:30pm. Our location for meetings is now the City Chambers office and no longer at the district office. There were five goals for the WBW, and after this year’s legislative changes, they removed the goal for all third graders to be reading at grade level. After tonight’s meeting, the presentation will be uploaded here: https://www.isd761.org/district-services/teaching-learning/worlds-best-workforce. Here’s the info again on the MN Dept of Education site https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/wbwf/.