June 23, 2021 at 7:00 PM - Board Meeting

Description: 

The policy of the education district board is to encourage discussion by persons of subjects related to the management of the district at board meetings. The board shall, as a matter of policy, protect the legal rights to privacy and due process of employees and students. Persons who wish to have a subject discussed at a public board meeting must notify the executive director’s office in advance of the board meeting. The person should provide his or her name, address, the name of group represented (if any), and the subject to be covered or the issue to be addressed.  The board retains the discretion to limit discussion of any agenda item to a reasonable period of time as determined by the board.

Description:  Update on current action steps and content.

Description:  There are multiple training opportunities offered by the education district this summer.  In early August, we are hosting a Summer Symposium.  This week includes trainings that a number of our districts need.  These trainings are open to all staff members in our districts.  The GCED covers the cost of the training.  Individual members compensate their staff according to staff agreement.  Restrictive Procedure Training will be held August 23, 24 and 25th.  This is required training for special education and other staff who implement restrictive procedures.  New Teacher Day is August 25th.  GCED Day will be held on Thursday, August 26th.  You are welcome to attend or check-in on any of these trainings. 

Description: 

The Safe and Sound Protocol, or SSP, is a non-invasive application of Polyvagal Theory, based on decades of research and developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, Unyte's Chief Scientific Advisor. 

The SSP's effectiveness has been proven in a wide range of studies, most notably in two clinical trials involving children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Trial participants demonstrated statistically significant improvements in:

• Emotional control
• Behavioral organization
• Hearing sensitivity and listening

In the 2020-21 school year, a pilot was completed by two of our therapists.  Initial results were positive with students able to access learning activities from a level of not being able to access to being able to access 40-60% of the time.

The remaining occupational therapists will be trained in this strategy over the summer and will have this as one more strategy to use with students.

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Description:  Goodhue County Health and Human Services (GCHHS) and Goodhue County Education District (GCED) continue to have an important working agreement in place to benefit the children, families and communities in Goodhue County. Each time when this contract is renewed, the contract is carefully reviewed, and updated as needed together by GCHHS and GCED to better meet the needs, and continually improve the collaborative work.

For many years, one important part of this collaboration has been the shared social work position to provide early childhood services to families in Goodhue County. This position has allowed GCHHS and GCED to collaborate to serve families when their children have a newly identified developmental concern when those issues are most responsive to intervention.

A new element of this collaboration this time is the addition of a school attendance specialist. Access to education is a clear social determinant of health, and truancy is a stepping stone to juvenile delinquency, increased risk of drug and alcohol abuse, and higher risk of unemployment. Since March 2020, GCHHS responded to 160 reports of concern regarding school issues as the primary identified concern. We are looking forward to this new opportunity to collaborate and improve school attendance and success for many students. There are no changes to the funding amounts of these contract.

Description:  Upon approval through the adoption of a resolution by each member district school board of an intermediate district or other cooperative units under Minnesota Statutes, section 123A.24, subdivision 2, and the approval of the commissioner of education, a school district may include in its authority under this section a proportionate share of the Long-Term Facilities Maintenance (LTFM) costs of the intermediate district or cooperative unit. The cooperative unit may issue bonds to finance the project costs or levy for the costs, using LTFM revenue transferred from member districts to make debt service payments or pay project costs. Authority under this subdivision is in addition to the authority for individual district projects under subdivision 1.

Description:  With Emergency Orders expiring, Policy 808 COVID-19 Face Covering Policy needs to be addressed.  I recommend the board moves to eliminate this policy.