All speakers are asked to complete the Listening Session Sign-in Form including as much detail as possible and including a printed / written copy of your presentation if one is available. This is an opportunity for the Board to listen, the Board will not engage in dialogue. As a general rule, the Board will not comment on or respond to any comments made by speakers. Please do not include names of Greenbush Middle River employees or representatives, their title, or location in your remarks for your own legal protection and the legal rights of staff.

Each speaker will have five (5) minutes to speak: speakers may not roll their time to another speaker. Speakers will be timed and are asked to complete their comments in this time frame. Board members may ask questions if needed.  Please begin your presentation by stating your name and topic only.
In the spirit of fairness to all participants, we request that you respect the format above. Thank you for taking the time today to attend this meeting and share your concerns and suggestions.
Members of the public may wish to email Board [listening session] communication(s) to <info@greenbush.k12.mn.us>

FCCLA Students

• Recent State Convention in Twin Cities

• 9 students’ events advanced to the national level

• Travel to San Diego June 28 - July 3

• Advisors are FCS teacher Laura Dahl and Kindergarten teacher Brittany Burkel

see attached 

See attachments

Budget consists of 6 fund balances:

o  01 General Fund
o  02 Food Service
o  04 Community Services
o  07 Debt Redemption
o  08 Scholarships
o  09 Student Activities
• *see attached

FCCLA State Competition & 1st Robotics Advancing to National Competition

FCCLA

• Recent State Convention in Twin Cities

• 9 students’ events advanced to the national level

• Travel to San Diego June 28 - July 3

• Advisors are FCS teacher Laura Dahl and Kindergarten teacher Brittany Burkel

-------------------------------
Robotics

• Will make a presentation at a future board meeting

• 12 students will travel to Houston April 19-24 for the World Competition

• Raised over $31,000 - very close to goal
• Blue Alliance website:  Team 5172

• Mentor is Mary Anderson, along with many other community adults and alumni

Donations to the school received as of April 18, 2022:

Arlys Graff Trust Fund donating $4,405 to First Robotics
American Endowment Foundation [on behalf of the Dennis & Terri Brazier Charitable Fund] donating $150,000 to defray costs associated with  School Parking Lot improvements and general school facility improvements.

Motion by Board Member _______________ and seconded by ______________________ to accept a $4,405 donation to the school's First Robotics program from the Aryls Graff Trust Fund.and $150,000 from the American Endowment Foundation [on behalf of the Dennis & Terri Brazier Charitable Fund] to defray costs associated with the School Parking Lot improvement project and other general school facility improvements.

NOTE:  Bid opening for the school parking lot improvement project is April 28, 2022 at the Roseau County Highway Dept.

Presentation and Award of Sale recommendation by Mr. Matthew Hammer and Mr. Aaron Bushberger of Ehlers and Associates [District Financial Advisor].

Sale Day Report (attached) provided by Ehlers & Associates
Resolution provided by legal counsel

Attached is the proposed e-learning plan for GMR effective with the 2022-2023 school year.

Shown below are the comments made during the regular February 2022 Board Meeting.

"Program plan for e-Learning days (Minnesota Statutes, section 120A.414) [attached]

The 2017 Legislature has amended the Length of School Year; Hours of Instruction (Minn. Stat. § 120A.41) to include the option of a school utilizing e-Learning days:

-  Due to inclement weather.
-  Up to five days in one school year.
-  Counted as an instructional day and included as hours of instruction.

Plan

If the school board or charter school wishes to include the opportunity for e-Learning days, they must consult with their teachers (charter schools) or the teacher’s representative (districts) and develop a plan for these days. .

The plan must include:

- Accommodations for students without sufficient access to the Internet,  hardware, or software in their homes. 
-  Accessible digital instruction for students with disabilities under chapter 125A and meet the needs of each student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP)/504 plans.
- Notification to parents and students of the plan must occur at the beginning of the school year and, upon implementation of an e-Learning day, there must be at least two hours’ notice prior to the normal school start time that students are to follow the e-Learning day plan. 
-  Access to teachers via telephone and online during normal school hours.

Principal Schultz to report on Feb. 21, 2022 Staff Development e-Learning development."

Motion by Board member __________________ and seconded by _____________ to adopt the Greenbush Middle River School District e-Learning Plan with implementation effective with the 2022-2023 school year.

Supt. Search report by GMR Joint Powers School Board representatives

see attached:  Supt. Vacancies in MN.  Source MSBA

The next Joint Powers board meeting with Board representatives from Tri-County and GMR is April 20, 2022 @ 5:00 pm in the Tri-County School Library.

Suggest Board Action:  Motion by Board member ________________ and seconded by __________________ to approve the employment of Ms. Hanna Black effective Monday, April 4, 2022.

Suggested Board Action:   Board Member __________________ and seconded by ___________ to accept the resignation of Mr. David Stanelle effective with the conclusion of the 2021-2022 school year.

Suggested Board Action:   Board Member __________________ and seconded by ___________ to accept the resignation of Mrs. Debra Stanelle effective with the conclusion of the 2021-2022 school year.

The GMR School District is a member of the MN School Boards Association [MSBA].  One of the services MSBA provides is policy development and review.

MSBA has undertaken a deep review and revision of the model policies. Following policy updates released in late January 2022, in mid-April 2022 MSBA released revisions to each model policy Form.

In terms of actual Policy up-dates, because the policy revisions:  (1) reflect legal changes that the Minnesota legislature adopted; or (2) update references rather than substantive policy language, a school board may adopt the revisions in a single meeting pursuant to MSBA Model Policy 208:  "If a policy is modified with minor changes that do not affect the substance of the policy or because of a legal change over which the school board has no control, the modified policy may be approved at one meeting [en mass] at the discretion of the school board."

See attached MSBA Model Policy Technical Revisions:  Series 100-600

=============================
A number of the policy Forms have been updated. These updates are not substantive and are not intended to revise the policies to which they are related.
School districts may choose how they prefer to handle form updates. Administrators may opt to review the changes and report to the board on updates that the administration believe should be brought to the board’s attention.
The board may choose to have a policy review committee review the updates. While the forms are not themselves policy, a school board may handle them pursuant to MSBA Model Policy 208 in terms of adoption (see above).

MSBA recommends that school districts consider the following form updates:
Model       Model Policy Title                             Notes
Policy #

404     Employment Background Checks - Aligns with updated state form
406     Public and Private Personnel Data - Aligns with updated state form
414     Mandated Reporting Child Neglect Updated MDE form
416     Drug and Alcohol Testing - Formatting Correction
614     School District Testing Plan - Deleted form
806     Crisis Management Plan Updated -  URLs on pages 1 and 2

See attached:  MSBA Model Policy Form Up-dates
 

The GMR School was closed due to inclement weather on February 1 and February 18, 2022.

Board consideration to amend the 2021-2022 school calendar to account for one (1) remaining snow day school closure.  [There is an assumption Spring is here and no school closures will take place before the end of the school year.]

During its regular February 2022 School Board meeting, the Board unanimously passed a motion to make up the February 1st school closure day by having an instructional day for students and staff on Monday, April 18, 2022.

Options for Consideration for one (1) remaining snow day school closure:

(1)  May 27 would be a student make-up day (staff are already scheduled to work this day).   And the end-of the year teacher workshop would then be moved to Tuesday, May 31.

[With one day before the summer break, I don't know if we'd accomplish anything of educational substance with students on Friday, May 27].  [Tying up "loose ends" for Graduation scheduled for Sunday, May 29 may be problematic with the loss of a teacher workshop day].

(2)  Since the April Board meeting is on the 18th (today)... Starting April 25th until the end of the school year, May 26th (didn't count May 27th), the teacher day would need to extend the day by 20 minutes in order to "make up" 8 hours. Be aware that it will be spring time with expected nice weather and therefore people will likely NOT be enthused to stay until almost 4:00 pm most days (especially if there are athletic games).

(3)  Develop a comp time arrangement whereby teachers would document up to 8 hours of time outside the school day.  Honor system.

(4) Non-licensed staff (eg: bus drivers, Paras) would work with their supervisor to make-up the time or take a PTO day.

(5)  What is your "institutional history"? If there is only one or two make-up day(s), the board may consider just "dropping" the make-up day and provide paid time for staff as a 2.5 year Covid Appreciation gesture for contending with challenges associated with the corona virus pandemic.
If so, I'd suggest a clear indication be given to school employees to avoid "precedent setting" with this matter in the future.  [This may not be a factor if the District has an approved e-Learning plan in place for 2022-2023.]

MN Statue 120A.40 requires public school districts to have at least 165 days of instruction for students in grades 1-11 unless they’ve reached a special agreement with the state’s education commissioner.   Spread across those days, they’re required to provide at least 425 hours’ worth of instruction to Kindergarteners, 935 hours for students in grades 1-6, and 1,020 hours for students in grades 7-12.

Most districts schedule 170-plus instruction days at the outset of the year and adjust accordingly to account for snow days or other interruptions.  GMR's calendar initially had 172 days scheduled, the option of an amended school calendar down to 170 instruction days.   Assuming GMR doesn’t cancel class again, the district will have an approx. 30-hour buffer over the state minimum.
Board discussion / decision on addressing the 2021-2022 school calendar for the February 18, 2022 school closure due to inclement weather.

Motion by Board member ________________ and seconded by ______________ to ______________________________________

 

The Agreement between the GMR School Board and GMR-Education Association [GMR-EA] includes a district financial contribution (benefit) to be applied to paying the premium for a group health & hospitalization insurance program.

Effective July 1, 2014, GMR teachers voted to participate in the Public Employees Insurance Program (PEIP).  Prior to this change, the teachers were in an insurance pool sponsored by the NW Service Cooperative.

On April 4, 2022, PEIP sent the district renewal information which included a significant increase (50%) in H & H insurance premiums.
Fifteen (15) other schools in the State involved in the PEIP program also received a similar increase.  In MN statute, an increase of this size permits schools to seek other H & H options without going through a bid protocol.

The District is currently in the process of seeking bids from a licensed insurance broker.

See attached Student Enrollment information:
PAST      PRESENT      PROJECTED

With enrollment as indicated, the school administration is recommending to replace the vacant 1/2 time high school science teaching position.  The school administration is also recommending replacement of the vacant School Social Worker and vacant Special Education Teacher.

Initial presentation / review of proposed Student Handbook changes effective with the 2022-2023 school year.
Board review and approval expected during regular May school board meeting.

Kindergarten round-up for Fall 2022 enrollment.

• K round-up was held on April 12

• Meet the teacher, orientation, sample schedule, Q & A

• Preschool teacher Melissa Kostrzewski and Kindergarten teacher Brittany Burkel organized this event.
• Class of 2035

Dinner Theatre Performances April 30 and May 1 @ 5:00 p.m.

• 3 short plays with dinner courses served in between
  "True Colors"
  "Please Don't Be My Drama Teacher"
  "About Her"

• Ryan Bergeron is the Director

State testing

• Throughout this month

• Generally, 2 sessions per test over 2 days

• Additional sessions for students who want to take their time. The test is not timed.

• Academic Advisor Susan Lieberg is the District Assessment Coordinator

EGF Career Expo - April 20, 2022

Juniors - Art Show at Warroad School - April 20, 2022

American Crystal Sugar Tour:  Monday, April 25:  Sophomores and Juniors 

Environthon @ Lake Bronson - April 27


 

Motion by__________________        Second by ____________________ to ADJOURN

• Joint Powers Meeting between Tri-County and GMR School Board representatives on April 20, 2022 @ 5:00 pm in Tri-County School Library.
• Community Education Advisory Council Meeting @ 5:15 pm 
• Regular May School Board Meeting - May 16, 2022 @ 7:30 p.m. in GMR School Library