Middle School Student Council:  presented by Chantel Boyer, Principal

1.  MCA's will go from March 5th through May 9th.  We will also have the final Fastrbridge assessments that have been ongoing throughout the year and will end around May 9th. 

2.  March 26th is Region VI Day at the Capitol. I have been busy at the Capitol as well testifying to bring more jobs and opportunities to Becker through increasing our tax base that is being lost through the decommissioning of SHERCO. In addition, I was able to testify in the Senate for our tax reimbursement bill. Finally, I was able to share our thoughts on how we could best implement the PFML bill for schools to limit their financial impact and cuts to staffing with more support from the state.

3.  Bills of particular interest that have been discussed the last couple of weeks include the following:**This is not intended to be a complete list of all bills introduced each week but rather a list of bills that are aligned with priorities or include significant policy changes.
 

SF 1254: Increasing LOR to $920 per pupil as part of the tails budget.
HF 409: Raise LOR to $974 per pupil, with the first $250 per pupil provided entirely as state aid.
Additionally, a bill is in draft form aiming to boost LOR to $974 per pupil. This proposal emphasizes improved equalization and indexing the per-pupil amount to the formula inflator.These proposals are significant as they affect both the per-pupil revenue and the structure of state aid distribution.
 

Roof Repair & Replacement (LTFM-Related) Bills

HF 51 and SF1198 These bills aim to address our district’s infrastructure needs by establishing or modifying funding mechanisms for roof repair and replacement projects.

HF 1028 / SF 1612 These bills propose increased funding for school districts, addressing areas such as general education basic formula allowance, special education cross-subsidy aid, English learner cross-subsidy aid, and safe schools revenue. It also seeks to adjust equalization aid for debt service levies, local optional revenue, and operating referendums. Additionally, the bill aims to link extended time revenue to the general education basic formula allowance and modify compensatory revenue eligibility criteria.


Other Bills of Interest
SF360: Algebra II
SF507: Language assistance and accommodations
SF197: adds two student members to the school board
Various meetings held on READ Act, libraries, teacher apprentice programs, local bills
HF803: VPK eligibility
HF1001: CTE funding
HF1550/SF1460: Capital projects referendum by board vote
HF1415: Funding for Unemployment Insurance

I have also been present at the Capitol for bills related to Becker School District, community or region.
HF28: Emergency Generator Backup
SF70: Sales Tax Rebate for Becker Public Schools
HF11: MN Paid Family Leave Law Delay

Important Upcoming Dates
March 6: updated budget forecast
Week of April 14: Easter/Passover break
May 19: Constitutional adjournment date
June 30: Fiscal year end 



4.  MASA/MASE Spring Conference is on March 20-21.  Carla and I are registered and plan to attend the conference.  This is also the same day as the American Indian Education Conference, where we will have staff members and our AIPAC chair attending.


5. If you are planning on attending graduation on May 30 in the evening, please let Angel know. Graduation is expected to take place at 7:00 pm and on the turf field. Arrival time would be around 6:30 pm.

https://youtu.be/o9zqIiiAAsQ?si=G2nEmnDl9rykIO-8

I recommend approving the personnel items as presented.

Policy 706 Acceptance of Gifts permits the school board to accept donations or gifts under the terms of the policy.  I recommend accepting the gifts as described in the enclosure.  Thank you to those who have donated to our schools and students. 

The calendar committee has been communicated with and provided feedback related to the calendar. A draft of this calendar was sent to them and a summary of the feedback is below. This is a second reading for the school calendar. I recommend approval of the school calendar as attached with the understanding that conferences, open houses, etc. will be developed by the executive team in accordance with contractual and legal requirements.

Calendar Requirements and Guidelines

• Teacher Days: Include 183 teacher days, with:
  • Two half-days before the open house
  • Two full grading days for all teachers
• Instructional Hours: Meet or exceed the minimum required instructional hours:
  • Kindergarten: 850 hours
  • Grades 1-6: 935 hours
  • Grades 7-12: 1020 hours
• Student Contact Days: Provide at least 165 contact days for students in grades 1-11.
• Trimester Consistency: Maintain trimester lengths between 56 and 59 days.

Key Considerations for Calendar Planning

1. Holiday Scheduling: Align holidays with weekends to create longer breaks where possible.
2. Staff Development Days: Strategically distribute professional development (PD) days throughout the school year, with a preference for Fridays over mid-week days, but also align to collaboration with neighboring schools. In addition, we are still doing PD on LETRS.
3. Inclement Weather:
   • One no-school day, Five e-learning days, Additional days would need to be made up if necessary

Stakeholder Feedback

• Holidays: Supports longer weekends when holidays are adjacent to weekends.
• Event Accommodation: No need to adjust for athletic or co-curricular events.

• Spring Break Concerns: Staff members shared thoughts about the alternating spring break schedule and expressed concerns about the absence of a spring break next year. Staff noted that a spring break is important for activities such as band/choir trips, which could affect approximately 200 students. Other surveys took survey’s sharing a 50/50 preference for a full spring break vs. extended weekends.
• Student Contact Days: Some staff felt there were more contact days than neighboring districts. They advocated for more equitable scheduling compared to nearby districts. This causes an issue with the hours requirements due to the shorter school day than neighboring schools. In addition, this does not change the overall calendar because of the requirement for 183 staff days.
• Professional Development (PD) Days:
  • Strong preference to maintain Friday PD days and avoid mid-week sessions.
  • Questions about scheduling PD days on the Monday after MEA instead of Wednesday.
  • Suggestion to align the March PD day with Easter break to balance trimester days.
  • Recommends avoiding PD days during high-activity periods, such as February 14th.
• End Date Priority: Preference for ending the school year on June 3rd, while others suggested alternatives to end before June, such as shortening the Christmas break or adjusting the Easter break.
  • Alternative Calendar Option: Staff provided an alternative calendar that shortens Christmas break, includes no spring break, and ends May 29.
• Holiday Weekend Concerns: Staff mentioned that it is hard to have four-day weekends around holidays due to higher travel costs.

Additional Considerations and Items for Discussion:

• Balancing Full-Week Breaks: Full-week breaks during holidays limit flexibility for a spring break and challenge the goal of ending in early June.
• Avoiding Two-Day Weeks: Efforts are being made to reduce the number of short school weeks.

• Spring Break vs. Early End: The feedback remains divided on prioritizing a spring break or finishing the school year earlier.
• Efficient Use of PD Days: Optimize PD day scheduling to support staff development without disrupting school routines.

Policy 208, Development, Adoption, and Implementation of Policies Article IV, Subd. D allows for minor changes that do not affect the substance of policy or because of a legal change over which the school board has no control, may be approved at one meeting.  In addition, Article V, Subd. D states the school board shall review policies at least once every three years.
Changes to the attached policies may include formatting or legal references.  

Recommendation to adopt MSBA's updated policies per attachments.

We have created a form for policy 103:  Complaints - Students, Employees, Parents, Other Persons.

This is a new form created to help streamline complaints and identify what specifically needs to be investigated. Please let me know if you have any feedback. Complaint processes will follow policy 103.