December 14, 2022 at 6:00 PM - Independent School District 507 Regular School Board Meeting

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

Description: 

1. MSBA Certificates of Training have been earned by Cathy Blowers and Ashley Black for completing the MSBA Leadership Development Program.  Cathy and Ashley both successfully fulfilled the requirements of the Leadership Workshop Series - Phase I, II, III, and IV.  The certificates will be presented at the meeting.
2. The 2022 MSBA Leadership Conference is January 12 and 13.  All school board members are registered.  Adam will coordinate transportation.  
3. An update to the FY 23 unassigned general fund is shown below.  The projected expenses should be accurate.  The revenue loss correlated with the enrollment decline will be about $188,000.

	Unassigned General Fund Budget
	Unaudited 6/30/22 Balance	Revenues	Expenses	6/30/23 Balance
	$552,526	$4,609,836	-$4,642,849	$502,860
Fall '22 Enrollment adjustment -15		-$188,000		$314,860

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

Description:  The Fiscal Year 22 Financial Audit will be presented by representatives of ABDO (Abdo, Eick & Meyers), the school district auditors. The superintendent recommends approving the FY 22 Financial Audit.

Description:  The superintendent recommends approving the payable 2023 levy in the amount of $1,482,328.19.  This represents a 6.69% decrease compared to the 2022 levy.  Truth and taxation information will be presented by the superintendent.  

Description:  The Nicollet Education Association asked to present information regarding administrative configurations.  The materials they provided are attached.

Description:  A report of administrative configurations available to the school district is attached.  It is timely for this review because of the interim principal position.  The school board should decide to proceed under option A (determine configuration Dec 14) or B (determine configuration April 14).

1. Timeline A
   1. Nov 9: school board reviews and discusses the report.
   2. Nov10 - Dec 9: superintendent solicits staff input and provides it to the school board.
   3. Dec 14: school board decides on an administrative configuration.
   4. Dec 15-Feb 3: superintendent develops desired candidate characteristics and job descriptions for administrative positions.  Staff and school board input will be included.
   5. Feb 8: school board final review of job descriptions.
   6. Feb 9 - Mar 3: advertise position(s)
   7. Mar 7 - Mar 21: screen applicants and conduct interviews.  Staff, parent, and school board representatives will be included with the interviews.
   8. Apr 13 - Superintendent recommends contract(s) to the school board for approval.
2. Timeline B
   1. Nov 9: school board reviews and discusses the report.
   2. Nov10 - Dec 9: superintendent solicits staff input and provides it to the school board.
   3. Dec 15-Feb 3: superintendent develops desired candidate characteristics and job descriptions for administrative position(s).  Staff and school board input will be included.
   4. Feb 8: school board final review of job description(s).
   5. April 12 - school board approves FY 24 general fund budget
   6. April 12 - school board decides on an administrative configuration.
   7. April 13 - April 28: advertise position(s)
   8. May 1 - May 12: screen applicants and conduct interviews.  Staff, parent, and school board representatives will be included with the interviews.
   9. May 17 - (Special School Board Meeting) Superintendent recommends contract(s) to the school board for approval.

Description:  NPS Policy 6.13.1 Grading, Graduation Credits, and Honors is attached.  Also attached is a survey of the colleges/universities most popular among our graduates along with a survey of area public schools.  A survey of NPS students is also attached.  Potential changes to sections III and IV are shown below.
III GRADING

1. 1. All regular education courses, taught on or off campus, including Post-Secondary Enrollment Options, College In The Schools, and College Level Examination Program taught on campus shall be graded on a 4.0 grade point average (A=4.0; B=3.0; C=2.0; D=1.0; F=0.0) and shall accrue at a rate of 0.5 high school graduation credits per course per semester. Students earning at least 6 credits annually are considered full-time.
2. 2. All college level courses taught off campus (Post-Secondary Enrollment Options) shall be graded on a 4.0 grade point average (A=4.0; B=3.0; C=2.0; D=1.0;F=0.0) and shall accrue at a rate of 0.25 graduation credits per college credit. Since Nicollet Public Schools has no control over the content or rigor of these courses, they are weighted on a 4.0 grade point average. The issuing post-secondary institution establishes its own transcript and credit policies.
3. 3. All college level courses taught on campus (College in the Schools; College Level Examination Program; DANTES) shall be graded with a 1.25 grade weighting average (A=5.00; B=3.75; C=2.50; D=1.25; F=0.00) and shall accrue at a rate of 0.5 high school graduation credits per course per semester.  The issuing post-secondary institution establishes its own transcript and credit policies.

IV. GRADUATION HONORS 
All students with a grade point average of 3.33 shall graduate with honors. All students with a grade point average of 3.67 shall graduate with high honors.  The valedictorian and salutatorian, as determined by the highest and second highest gpa from credits taught on the Nicollet Public School Campus, shall be invited to speak at graduation.  The valedictorian and salutatorian must be members in good standing of the Nicollet High School National Honor Society.  If one declines, to speak at graduation, there shall be one speaker. If both decline, faculty members shall select a student representative from the high honors honorees students with the highest GPAs to speak at graduation.

Description:  POLICY 606 TEXTBOOKS AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS is attached.  This is a standard MSBA policy which has been adopted by most Minnesota Public Schools.  The superintendent recommends no action as this is the first reading of the policy.