Organizational Meeting of the School Board V I R Tu Al / Eisenhower C O Mmu N I T Y Center Boardroom a U G U S T 1 7 , 202 1 — 6 P

Organizational Meeting of the School Board V i r tu al / Eisenhower C o mmu n i t y Center Boardroom A u g u s t 1 7 , 202 1 — 6 p . m .

ORDER OF BUSINESS

I. CALL TO ORDER

II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

III. NEW BUSINESS

A. Resolution Designating Depositories for School Funds T. Chapinduka (Board Information, Discussion & Action)

Background/Recommendation: The Administration is requesting that the Board approves the proposed depositories for the 2021-22 school year, as follows:

Checking Account Depository, Payroll, US Bank/Minnesota School District Food Services & Community Ed

General, & Student Activities Accounts: Liquid Asset Fund

Investment Depositories: Wells Fargo Investments US Bancorp Public Financial Management Minnesota School District Liquid Asset Fund Prudent Man Advisors (PMA) UBS Financial Services, Inc. CBIZ Fidelity MetLife

Cash Transfer Accounts: US Bank/ Minnesota School District Liquid Asset Fund

Custodian of Investment Collateral: US Bank/ Minnesota School District Liquid Asset Fund

B. Resolution Authorizing Electronic Funds, T. Chapinduka Transfers and Investments (Board Information, Discussion & Action)

Background: Every year the Board authorizes the use of electronic fund transfers and investments.

Recommendation: That the Board adopts the proposed resolution below, authorizing the use of electronic fund transfers and investments as follows:

Note: The agenda is subject to change until formally approved. Organizational Meeting of the School Board August 17, 2021 — 6 p.m.

RESOLVED, that the Director of Business Services (Tariro Chapinduka) and Controller (Jason Stegeman), be authorized to make or cause to be made electronic funds transfers between School District accounts,

RESOLVED FURTHER, that Director of Business Services (Tariro Chapinduka) and Controller (Jason Stegeman) be authorized to open or cause to be opened investment accounts with designated institutions in consideration of terms, conditions, and covenants required by such institutions; to endorse or cause to be endorsed on behalf of the District any drafts, orders, certificates, checks, or other investment instruments in connection with such accounts; and to make or cause to be made deposits to such accounts by check, draft, order, or electronic funds transfer;

RESOLVED FURTHER, that unless superseded, any and all resolutions heretofore adopted by the Board of Education and certified to depositories designated at the Organizational Meeting of August 17, 2021, governing the operation of this District’s account(s) with them, be and are hereby continued in full force.

C. Designation of Official District Newspaper T. Chapinduka (Board Information, Discussion & Action)

Background: School districts are required by law to name an official newspaper for district publications. In the past, the Hopkins, Minnetonka, and Golden Valley Sun publications have served as the official newspapers of the Hopkins Public Schools.

The rate structure for legal notices that are emailed is $12.85 per column inch for the first insertion; $6.40 per column inch for subsequent insertions. If sent via mail or fax, there is an additional $20 charge for typesetting. Additionally, Sun Newspapers will continue to post all published legal notices on their website (www.ecmpublishers.com) at no additional charge to the District; they will also provide one affidavit at no charge (additional affidavits are $2.50 each). These rates remain in place for the 2021-22 school year and has not increased from 2020-21.

Since these free publications are delivered to nearly every household in the District and there is no subscription required, it is recommended that the Board continue to designate the Sun-Sailor/Sun-Post as the official newspaper(s) for the Hopkins School District.

Recommendation: That the Board designates the Hopkins, Minnetonka, and Golden Valley Sun Sailor/Sun Post publications as the official newspaper(s) of the Hopkins Public Schools for the 2021- 22 school year.

D. Appointment of Legal Firm N. Lightfoot (Board Information, Discussion & Action)

Background: For the 2021-22 school year, the district will use Ratwik, Roszak and Maloney Law. Proposed rates are $230/hour for the managing attorney (new); $220/hour for senior attorneys; $205/hour for associate attorneys; and $125/hour for legal assistants.

2 Organizational Meeting of the School Board August 17, 2021 — 6 p.m.

On specific projects that may warrant legal expertise outside of the District’s general legal counsel, rates will be negotiated on a per-project basis and taken into consideration with the market rates and options available. Prior to going to other legal agencies for this work, general counsel will be consulted.

Recommendations:  That the Board approves utilization of the legal services — as provided through Ratwik, Roszak & Maloney — at hourly rates as noted above for the 2021-22 school year, dependent upon the services required.  That the Board allow District Administration the discretion for the 2021-22 school year, to seek other legal counsel and/or utilize a licensed attorney when there is a need to acquire special expertise.

E. Review of School Board Policy 253: N. Lightfoot Board Member Compensation and Expenses (Board Information, Discussion & Action)

District Policy 253: Board Member Compensation and Expenses Board members will be compensated according to the rate of compensation established in the annual organizational meeting.

The Board encourages its members to participate in appropriate conventions, conferences, workshops, seminars and similar meetings. Participation in such meetings is to be coordinated with the Board Chairperson and members are to be compensated for expenses incurred. Itemized claims for reimbursement carrying expense documentation should be submitted to the superintendent for processing in accordance with the provisions of Policy 214.

When an approved meeting is not attended by the full Board those who do participate will be requested to share information, recommendations, and materials acquired at the meeting

Adopted: July 10, 1980 Revised: February 28, 1985 & February 18, 2010 Reviewed: November 20, 2014 & March 6, 2018

Background:  In August 2015, the School Board approve a 2% increase in compensation — $5,256.53 annually, and a $718.75 stipend for the Chair ($5,975.28) — for the 2015- 16 school year.  In August 2016, the School Board approved to freeze their compensation; thus, it remained at $5,256.53 annually, with a $718.75 stipend for the Chair ($5,975.28) for the 2016-17 school year.  In August 2017, the School Board approved a 2% increase in compensation — $5,361.66 annually, with a $733.13 stipend for the Chair ($6,094.79) for the 2017-18 school year.  In August 2018, the School Board approved a 2% increase in compensation — $5,468.89 annually, with a $747.79 stipend for the Chair ($6,216.68) for the 2018-19 school year.

3 Organizational Meeting of the School Board August 17, 2021 — 6 p.m.

 In August 2019, the School Board approved a 2% increase in compensation — $5,578.27 annually, with a $762.75 stipend for the Chair ($6,341.01) for the 2019-20 school year.  In August 2020, the School Board Approved a 0% increase in compensation — $5,578.27 annually, with a $762.75 stipend for the Chair ($6,341.01) for the 2012-21 school year.

Recommendation: That the Board establishes appropriate compensation for 2021-22; also, that term life insurance in the amount of $50,000 for each Board member be continued (total cost of the insurance for the seven Board members is approximately $508.20 [$72.60/person]; no increase from 2020-21).

F. Authorization of District Memberships, 2021-22 R. Mhiripiri-Reed (Board Information, Discussion & Action)

Background: District 270 belongs to several education-related organizations. Action to authorize continued participation is necessary each year.

AMSD (Association of Metropolitan School Districts) District Contact: Rhoda Mhiripiri-Reed The 2020-21 membership fee was $10,117.00. The 2021-22 membership fee is $10,006.00.

AMSD represents 41 K-12 school districts, along with 5 intermediate/cooperative districts, and 2 integration districts that serve over half of the students in Minnesota. AMSD is the only education organization in the state whose primary objective is to advocate for and represent the needs of metropolitan school districts. AMSD speaks with a unified voice to make positive change for students at the Legislature.

MSHSL (Minnesota State High School League) District Contact: Dan Johnson

The annual membership fee of $100 has been in place since at least 2007-08, increasing to $110 in 2019-20. The fee, which is covered by the Board, is $100 for 2021-22. The activities fee is $9675 and the per enrollment fee is $11,823.70 for 2021-22.

MSBA (Minnesota School Boards Association) District Contact: Rhoda Mhiripiri-Reed

The 2021-22 membership fee is $12,813 based on 6937.33 “Average Daily Membership of Students Served” for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020, as provided by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). (Note: The additional $730 included on the membership invoice is for “Policy Services,” to which the District subscribes; although this is not a membership fee, it is service that is paid for through the Board’s budget. This is an increase of $311 over 2020-21.)

Recommendation: That the Board authorizes continued memberships in AMSD, MSHSL, and MSBA for the 2021-22 school year.

IV. ADJOURNMENT

Hopkins Public School Policies

District Code: 253 BOARD MEMBER COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES Policy reflects Minnesota statute and aligns with other District 270 policies.

Board members will be compensated according to the rate of compensation established in the annual organizational meeting.

When an approved meeting is not attended by the full Board those who do participate will be requested to share information, recommendations, and materials acquired at the meeting.

Cross References:

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Adopted: July 10, 1980 Revised: February 28, 1985, February 18, 2010 Reviewed: November 20, 2014, March 6, 2018

Association of Metropolitan School Districts

2 Pine Tree Drive, Suite 380, Arden Hills, MN 55112 • 612-430-7750 • www.amsd.org

June 2, 2021

To: AMSD Board of Directors

From: Scott Croonquist

RE: Annual Report

It is hard to even know where to start with my annual report. The 2020-21 school year is one for the history books and one that none of us will forget. It was almost 15 months ago that I was called to a meeting at the MN Department of Education with the Commissioner, MDE staff, and representatives from several other education associations where we were informed that it was likely that the Governor would be ordering schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We discussed the feasibility of transitioning to a distance learning model and considered some of the challenges such a move would present. None of us could have imagined what would unfold over the next year.

The transition to distance learning shone a bright light on the inequities in our current education system and the inequities were crystallized following the murder of George Floyd which resulted in pain, anguish and trauma for students, staff, parents and communities across the state. The imperative of achieving the mission in the Reimagine Minnesota collective action plan -- ensuring each and every student has access to an equitable and excellent education – was never clearer. Many superintendents noted that they leaned heavily on the Reimagine Minnesota work and strategies as they navigated the pandemic, the civil unrest and racial reckoning in their respective school communities.

Following the transition to distance learning, we turned our attention to providing frequent updates on the rapidly evolving MDE guidance related to the Governor’s executive orders as well as guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and MN Department of Health. We created a COVID-19 resource page on the AMSD website to serve as a clearing house for COVID-19 information. The page was updated regularly and included communications from the Governor, MDE, the U.S. Department of Education, MDH and the CDC. We also gathered information and shared each AMSD member school district’s COVID-19 web page in a document to facilitate the sharing of best practices and ideas among our members. Facilitating the sharing of information and best practices among AMSD member districts became a focal point of our activities over the 2020-21 school year.

In July, we began regularly convening and supporting AMSD superintendent Zoom calls that were facilitated by Saint Paul Public Schools Superintendent Joe Gothard. The almost weekly calls were highly valued by the superintendents as evidenced by the 30 – 40 superintendents regularly in attendance. The meetings provided a time for them to share information, discuss challenges, strategize solutions, and support each other. Navigating the frequently changing guidance and multitude of issues was a constant challenge. During one meeting, the superintendents asked me to approach the Governor and Commissioner about establishing a superintendent advisory group to allow for input on the front end before decisions were made. I contacted staff in the Governor’s office -1- about the idea and the request was favorably received and an eight-member superintendent advisory panel was established with Superintendents Theresa Battle, Sandy Lewandowski, Cory McIntyre and Jeff Ronneberg representing the metro school districts along with 4 superintendents from rural school districts. The administration benefitted from the advice and input from the advisory group and would be wise to continue using the group going forward.

I also served on a MDE advisory group with the executive directors of MASA, MSBA, MREA and the Charter School Association and we were consulted and had the opportunity to offer input over the course of the year on everything from COVID testing to mitigation strategies to vaccinations. These meetings also allowed us to keep MDE staff apprised of the challenges facing our school districts and help ensure important information was distributed to school leaders in a timely manner.

Helping our member districts navigate the challenges associated with the pandemic was a high priority throughout the year but it was important that we continued our mission to advocate for metropolitan school districts and advance legislation that supports student achievement. To prepare for the legislative session, we followed our past practice of surveying AMSD board members about their funding and policy priorities for the 2021 session. The feedback gathered from the survey was collected, collated and presented to the AMSD Legislative Committee. The legislative committee used the information to draft a legislative platform that focused on five key themes:

● Stabilizing school funding ● Closing opportunity gaps ● Ensuring safe schools ● Enhancing taxpayer equity ● Reducing mandates and encouraging innovation It was clear early on that several complicating factors would make the 2021 legislative session particularly challenging. While the 2020 election saw the election of many new legislators – 23 House Members and 10 Senators - the overall picture remained relatively unchanged with Minnesota continuing to have the only divided legislature in the country. After the election, Republicans continued to have a narrow majority in the Senate and the Democrats a narrow majority in the House. Normally, we would schedule in person meetings with the newly elected legislators but this year, we were forced to try meet them remotely via a Zoom meeting.

Another challenge was the incredible fluctuations in the state budget picture. We went from a $2.4 billion deficit projected in May of 2020 to a $641 million surplus in the November forecast for the biennium ending June 30 of 2021—a swing of nearly $3 billion. Similarly, the November forecast projected a $1.3 billion deficit for the 2022-2023 biennium - down from the May projection of a $4.7 billion deficit. The $1.3 billion projected shortfall turned into a $1.6 billion surplus in the February forecast. However, that positive news masked a less rosy picture into the future. The bulk of the projected surplus was due to one-time savings or adjustments. The ongoing structural balance, in fact, was just $260 million for the 2022-23 biennium and that did not include projected inflation of just over $1 billion. In other words, factoring in inflation left a projected deficit of $845 million in the 2024- 25 biennium. However, the perceived brighter forecast effectively took any revenue increases off the table. Consequently, the final budget agreement means the budget needs to be balanced within current resources which are not projected to cover even inflationary cost increases in the next biennium.

A third complicating factor was the fact that the Legislature largely operated remotely due to the pandemic. Many legislators took their oath of office via Zoom and the House and Senate amended their respective rules to allow committee hearings to be held remotely and to allow members to vote remotely during floor proceedings. The Capitol and the House and Senate Office Buildings were

-2- closed to the public. In fact, most legislative staff also worked from home which contributed to a massive backlog in bills getting introduced during the first few months of the session.

A final complicating factor was the federal stimulus funding for education appropriated by Congress and signed by President Trump and then President Biden. The federal funds provided significant relief and helped school districts cover many pandemic related expenses such as PPE, cleaning supplies, technology, internet connectivity and more. However, despite our significant attempts to provide clarity, many legislators did not seem to grasp the fact that the federal funds were one-time funds and that there are significant disparities in how the funds were distributed to school districts through the Title 1 formula. We are continuing to advocate that the Governor and Commissioner use the state share of the ESSER funds to address the disparities and also address the pandemic related enrollment decline which was not addressed in the House and Senate education bills.

Following the February Budget Forecast, the House and Senate released vastly different budget plans for E-12 Education with the House proposing an increase of $771 million and the Senate proposing an increase of $152 million. The Governor proposed an increase of $745 million for E-12 Education. The House bill included several AMSD funding priorities including increasing the formula by 2% per year and linking it to inflation in the future. The House also included funding to hold the special education cross-subsidy flat, a significant increase for English learner funding and linking the EL formula to the basic formula, allowing school boards to renew an existing referendum and investments and initiatives to increase the number of staff of color. The House bill also included several new mandates. The Senate bill did not increase the basic formula or provide funding to hold the special education cross- subsidy flat but it did include $60 million in one-time funding for classroom support aid and a $25 million increase for referendum equalization. While the Senate bill was light on funding, it includes very few new mandates and does not include proposals to unravel the tiered teacher licensing system.

Not surprisingly, the vast differences in the House and Senate proposals, not only in E-12 but in virtually every area of the budget, led to very challenging budget negotiations at the end of the session. And, for the for the fifth time in the last six budget-setting sessions, a special session is needed to adopt the biennial budget. As I write this, working groups from the various finance committees are working to finalize their respective budget bills. Governor Walz, Speaker Hortman and Majority Leader Gazelka announced an agreement on an overall budget framework, including spending targets, on the final day of the legislative session and gave the chairs of the House and Senate finance committees, working with the appropriate commissioners, two weeks to come to an agreement on the details

The E-12 Education target is $525 million for the 2022-23 biennium and $675 for the 2024-25 biennium. While most of AMSD’s legislative priorities are alive for consideration, the reality is that the target is sufficient to include only a few of them. For example, increasing the formula by 2% per year costs $399 million in the 2022-23 biennium and $575 million in the next biennium. Nonetheless, we are continuing to advocate for the inclusion of as many of our priorities as possible. We are anticipating that Governor Walz will call a special session on or before June 14 when legislative leaders will hope to pass the budget bills and avoid a state government shutdown which would occur if the budget is not adopted by June 30.

Below is a recap of other activities and events from the past year.

AMSD Election Guide

We once again produced a comprehensive election guide which included information about education funding and policy issues as well as tips on holding effective candidate forums and sample questions to ask legislative candidates. The guide has been an effective tool in educating political candidates about important education issues and engaging our member districts in the electoral process.

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Reimagine Minnesota

The Reimagine Minnesota work continued to play a prominent role during the year. The mediators in the Cruz-Guzman lawsuit and staff from Attorney General Ellison’s office convened a panel of AMSD superintendents to get feedback on potential programs and initiatives for inclusion in a settlement. A tentative settlement between the state and the plaintiffs was unveiled in the form of legislation near the end of the 2021 session but it did not move forward as the Legislature was consumed with passing the biennial budget. The proposed settlement would establish three programs:

• A culturally responsive teaching, learning, integration, and inclusion program that would replace the current Achievement and Integration Program. The new program is aligned well with many of the strategies in the Reimagine Minnesota plan. • A voluntary metro-wide inter-district integration program. This is very similar to the Choice is Yours program that was part of the settlement in a similar lawsuit in the late 1990s. • A new Diverse Magnet school program that would create 4 initial magnet schools – at least 2 would be located in Minneapolis or Saint Paul.

The fate of the proposed settlement is uncertain but the legislation could be considered in a future special session or in the 2022 session. We will continue to closely monitor the settlement talks. AMSD superintendents have expressed concerns about aspects of the proposed settlement.

Legislative Session Preview

The start of the 2021 legislative session was unprecedented with the majority of the members sworn in virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Likewise, for the first time the AMSD Legislative Preview, held on January 8th, was conducted in a virtual format. Despite the preview being held remotely, more than 220 attendees, including legislators, legislative staff, superintendents, school board members and district staff, came together to discuss AMSD’s legislative priorities and the outlook for the 2021 session.

The program was kicked off with a presentation by three AMSD superintendents who shared an overview of AMSD’s legislative platform. AMSD Superintendents Christine Tucci Osorio of North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale, Kim Hiel of Fridley, and Mike Redmond of Shakopee, highlighted the issues that the pandemic has brought to metro-area school districts and also the longstanding challenges that face small, large, metro and rural school districts alike due to years of inadequate and unstable state funding.

Supt. Tucci Osorio focused on the importance of stabilizing education funding and highlighted the report from the School Finance Working Group, which she co-chaired, that identified several priorities to stabilize the funding system and improve educational outcomes. Supt. Hiel spoke specifically to closing opportunity gaps — for students as well as new teachers in Minnesota. Supt. Hiel particularly cited the importance of recruiting and retaining teachers of color including the importance of maintaining the multiple pathways to licensure provided under the tiered licensing system. Supt. Redmond stressed the importance of indexing the funding formula to inflation, reducing mandates, encouraging innovation in education, and increasing and expanding the allowable uses of Long-term Facilities Maintenance revenue to ensure safe schools.

Following the presentation of the AMSD legislative platform, we welcomed Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, and Commissioner of Education Mary Cathryn Ricker who spoke about the critical importance of E-12 education in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact that distance learning has had on students throughout the state.

-4- The preview ended with a legislative panel that featured Senate Majority Leader Sen. Paul Gazelka, Senate Minority Leader Susan Kent, Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman, and Rep. Ron Kresha, the ranking minority member on the House Education Finance and Policy Committees. The panel took questions from board members and shared their respective caucus’ priorities and goals for the session.

Annual Conference

Nearly 300 Minnesota education leaders joined AMSDs Reimagining Education in the Midst of COVID-19 virtual conference last June. The conference, which had been scheduled prior to the murder of George Floyd, focused on ensuring access to an equitable and excellent education for each and every student in a distance learning environment. Speakers also discussed the imperative of eliminating systemic and structural racism and addressing the social emotional needs and trauma being experienced by students following Floyd’s death.

Paula Forbes and Dario Otero, our long-time Reimagine Minnesota consultants, provided support in planning and coordinating the conference. The conference started with an overview of the Reimagine Minnesota work by Paula and Superintendents David Law and Christine Tucci Osorio. The overview was followed by a Superintendent Panel discussion comprised of Superintendents Aldo Sicoli, Joe Gothard, Astein Osei, Christine Tucci Osorio and David Law. The superintendents reflected on what they had learned in the transition to distance learning and how we could use the Reimagine Minnesota strategies to ensure equitable learning opportunities for all students. Following the superintendents panel, we heard from a panel of equity directors including Robin Gordon, Michael Walker, Kandace Logan and Malik Peer. The conversation was facilitated by MSBA’s Paula O’Loughlin. Next up was a school board member panel discussion facilitated by AMSD Chair Andrea Cuene. The panel members were Paula Cole, Curtis Johnson and Kitty Gogins.

The keynote address was delivered by Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan and the agenda also included two rounds of breakout sessions for conference attendees to share information and best practices and strategies to ensure equitable learning in a distance learning environment.

AMSD Day at the Capitol

With the Capitol closed to the public and the Legislature operating remotely, we did not hold a Day at the Capitol event. We look forward to resuming the event in the 2022 session.

Board of Directors Meetings

We hosted a wide variety of guest speakers at AMSD Board of Directors meetings during the past year with all but one of the meetings conducted remotely. Below is a recap of board meetings over the past year:

• Last August, we heard an overview of the Safe Learning Plan from MDE Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker and Deputy Commissioner Heather Mueller. At that point, plans were just unfolding for the three different learning models among a wide array of other issues related to the pandemic that would become prominent during the school year. We also heard from Secretary of State Steve Simon who shared an overview of early voting procedures and steps that were being taken in response to the pandemic. • In September, Peter Leatherman from the Morris Leatherman Company shared an informative overview of his most recent polling data. Peter and Dr. Bill Morris have graciously shared polling data with AMSD board members for several years at our September board meeting. • We held our one and only in person board meeting in October. Actually, it was a hybrid meeting with some board members attending in person and many more participating remotely. We were pleased to present AMSD’s 2020 Friend of Public Education award to Dr. Michael Rodriguez and Dr. Nicola Alexander from the University of Minnesota for their

-5- partnership and support of Reimagine Minnesota and their research on issues important to AMSD. We also heard an overview of the recommendations of the Minnesota Department of Education’s School Finance Working Group from Dr. Tom Melcher from MDE. • In November, AMSD Consultants Kris Amundson and Lori Grivna provided a recap of the 2020 election results and a preview of the 2021 legislative session. The board also approved updates to several of AMSD’s standing position papers and we held small group breakout discussions to review a draft of the 2021 legislative platform. • Newly elected Senators Ann Johnson Stewart and Zach Duckworth were the guest speakers during the December meeting. Both senators have an education background -- Sen. Johnson Stewart was a teacher and Sen. Duckworth served on the Lakeville School Board before being elected. The board also approved the 2021 legislative platform as well as updates to several additional position papers at this meeting. • The January meeting was used for our annual legislative session preview which is described earlier in this report. • The chairs of the House and Senate Education Finance Committees, Rep. Jim Davnie and Sen. Roger Chamberlain, were the guest speakers at our February meeting. The board also approved a session brief on the proposed education constitutional amendment at this meeting. The AMSD brief was cited by many legislators and other education groups during the course of the session and we remain committed to working with the proponents of the amendment to improve the proposed language. • In March, we welcomed Rep. Ruth Richardson, the chair of the House Education Policy Committee as our guest speaker. We also heard a presentation from two researchers from NWEA, Dr. Nate Jensen and Dr. Karyn Lewis, who shared their initial findings on students’ reading and math achievement and growth during the pandemic. • We heard a session update from two first-term House Members during the April board meeting – Rep. Lisa Demuth and Rep. Cedrick Frazier. In addition, Peter Leatherman returned for a second time and graciously shared an overview of fresh polling data which included survey results related to the pandemic including attitudes about distance learning and concerns about mental health issues. • On May 7 we were fortunate to have two more informative presentations. Andre Prahl, MDE finance director, provided an overview of the various federal funding streams distributed to school districts since the start of the pandemic. In addition, Dr. Julio Caesar from Bloomington Public Schools and Rik Lamm from the University of Minnesota shared their research findings showing a correlation between late start times for high school students and higher academic achievement and more hours of sleep. • We were scheduled to hear a session review from MDE staff during the May 21 meeting but with the legislature once again failing to reach a budget agreement in time to avoid a special session, we postponed their presentation until a later date. Instead, I provided an overview of where things stood in the budget negotiations and a summary of the budget framework that the Governor and legislative leaders had agreed to a few days before.

Member Services

AMSD Office Manager Kimberly Jansa and Communications Director Troy Melhus continued to provide a wide array of services to AMSD members and did excellent work in transitioning AMSD’s board and committee meetings to the Zoom platform. Likewise, AMSD Consultants Kris Amundson and Lori Grivna used their extensive legislative contacts to help us navigate a distance lobbying environment which was no small obstacle.

Below is a list of some of the services the AMSD team provides to our members:

• The AMSD website is the hub of our communication efforts and provides comprehensive information for our member school districts. The site was an especially essential tool over the past year to help share information and resources related to the pandemic. In addition, parent advocates frequently visit the website to access our broad array of advocacy materials such as -6- the legislative platform, position papers, session briefs, school funding data and advocacy videos. • Comprehensive and timely email updates are a hallmark of AMSD and consistently cited by our members as a highly valuable service. The updates provide important information and often include links to resources and data and recorded video of legislative hearings. • The website also makes it easy for AMSD members to advocate and engage in the legislative process. The advocacy page includes a list of the legislative districts and legislators for each AMSD member school district as well as a contact list for legislative leaders, members of the pertinent legislative committees as well Minnesota’s congressional delegation. • Kimberly Jansa continued our work with the Board of School Administrators to offer continuing education credits for our board meetings and our annual conference. • We continued to support the activities of local legislative action coalitions and we are always happy to attend meetings and provide legislative updates. • The Connections Newsletter is a tremendous resource and vehicle to share success stories and best practices in our member school districts, highlight new research, and advocate for AMSD’s legislative priorities throughout the legislative session. The newsletter is distributed in electronic format to all AMSD school board members, superintendents, district staff, legislators, legislative staff and members of the media.

Voice For Metro Schools

AMSD is the voice for metropolitan school districts. We continue to work collaboratively with the other education organizations but there are times that AMSD needs to advocate for the needs of our member districts. AMSD had led the charge on a wide variety of issues over the years including the enactment of the local optional revenue program, allowing school boards to renew an existing referendum, allowing referendum questions to increase the referendum amount by inflation, addressing the cross-subsidies in the special education and English learner programs and recognizing the higher labor costs faced by our member school districts. In 2018, AMSD initiated, advocated for using the pension adjustment mechanism in the funding formula to make sure AMSD members had their increased employer cost covered when the pension stabilization legislation was passed. The employer contribution is continuing to increase based on that legislation and AMSD members are still realizing the benefit of our advocacy on that issue.

It is a privilege to work with AMSD school board members, superintendents and school district staff. I have always been incredibly proud of the professionalism, dedication and commitment to public education of AMSD board members and my appreciation and respect has grown even more over the past year of the pandemic. Thank you for your assistance, support and partnership!

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