[0:08] Okay, today's

[0:10] work session. Uh, we'll

[0:11] start with

[0:13] discussion topics and

[0:13] possible actions,

[0:14] starting with the

[0:15] district's goals.

[0:17] So, uh, we have

[0:18] district goals, so I'll go into a little bit of

[0:20] what the

[1:00] goals are, how we got to

[1:01] where we are now, and that

[1:03] won't be an action item

[1:04] for tonight

[1:05] . This will be an

[1:06] action item at the October

[1:07] meeting, but I just

[1:08] want to be able to

[1:09] put it out there and

[1:10] get feedback.

[1:11] Good. Okay,

[1:13] I can start. I have the

[1:14] first two. These are the goals

[1:16] you see every year

[1:17] for our

[1:18] English and

[1:20] math proficiency levels. So, with a

[1:22] baseline of 69% of

[1:24] our students in

[1:25] grades 3-3-11 demonstrating

[1:28] proficiency, uh, we're

[1:30] looking at a target of 71%.

[1:32] And for math, our

[1:34] baseline score

[1:35] was 72.

[1:36] This year's goal

[1:36] will be for

[1:37] 74% of students in

[1:38] grades 3-11 to demonstrate

[1:40] proficiency in

[1:41] math. And that's

[1:42] measured by a

[1:44] pre-exam

[1:45] and, uh,

[1:46] ACT and ACT pre-test. And those

[1:48] in both of those

[1:49] districts, 71 and 74,

[1:50] comparing ourselves to

[1:51] other districts, if

[1:52] we set that goal,

[1:54] it would put us

[1:55] at about the 94th

[1:56] percentile

[1:57] compared to other

[1:58] districts.

[2:01] I can take the following

[2:03] . Also, the goals

[2:05] you are very familiar with are

[2:06] 1,3 and 1,4. Based on what

[2:08] Shannon said, then we

[2:09] break it down into

[2:10] different subgroups. So, the

[2:11] first subgroup

[2:12] you'll see is ELA (

[2:12] English Language and

[2:13] Literature). We have

[2:14] students with disabilities,

[2:15] students of color, and

[2:16] economically

[2:17] disadvantaged students,

[2:18] those students who

[2:18] receive

[2:19] free and

[2:20] reduced lunches,

[2:20] whose numbers are

[2:21] growing by two

[2:22] percentage points. This

[2:23] baseline data is there, these are

[2:24] our goals from last

[2:26] year. And then the second

[2:27] part is just a

[2:29] transition from ELA to

[2:30] math, the same

[2:31] subgroups, and again by

[2:32] two percentage

[2:33] points.

[2:37] Good. Continuing

[2:38] the trend, the

[2:38] focus

[2:40] on well-being and

[2:41] mental health.

[2:42] I think this is an

[2:43] area that we

[2:44] continue to hear about, not

[2:45] just in the school

[2:46] district but in general,

[2:48] that we can't

[2:49] focus on enough. So,

[2:51] we want to, first, in

[2:52] point 2.1,

[2:53] focus on

[2:54] our partnership with

[2:56] Hudson Physicians. And we

[2:57] think that's a

[2:58] good start, and that's what

[2:59] we're doing

[3:00] together to make

[3:01] operations

[3:02] and

[3:03] HR work together

[3:04] . We see this as an

[3:07] opportunity for the

[3:08] entire district, as well as

[3:09] for the unification of

[3:11] operations and the

[3:11] human resources department. And as for

[3:13] us, we're

[3:14] working with Hudson Physicians

[3:15] to increase the

[3:16] overall, uh,

[3:17] percentage increase in the

[3:18] number of

[3:19] medical exams performed.

[3:20] First, we think it's

[3:21] consistent with what

[3:23] we share with

[3:24] our

[3:24] employees, but

[3:25] we think it's

[3:26] just good. And

[3:27] secondly, in point 2.2, we have

[3:30] been monitoring the situation for some time now

[3:31] through Family Means, our

[3:33] employee assistance program, and

[3:34] our usage

[3:38] has been decreasing over the last few years, and we

[3:39] believe that this is an

[3:40] area that we want to

[3:41] definitely

[3:42] bring back to the attention of

[3:43] our employees

[3:44] . I can only tell you

[3:46] from my previous

[3:47] working life, and

[3:48] in general,

[3:49] employee assistance programs are not

[3:51] widely used. And, uh, we

[3:53] want to make sure

[3:54] that we

[3:55] communicate this

[3:56] to our

[3:56] employees often and early so that

[3:58] they can

[3:58] utilize the

[3:59] many

[4:00] tools and

[4:01] resources available to them. And so we're

[4:02] looking at a relative

[4:04] increase, and we're

[4:04] looking at that as

[4:05] part of a

[4:06] multi-year focus

[4:07] , not just this year.

[4:11] And next year is mine.

[4:13] Partnership with the

[4:13] public and

[4:14] industry relations.

[4:16] So we aim to

[4:16] increase the percentage of

[4:17] school classes that

[4:19] offer real-world

[4:20] learning experiences with

[4:21] industry

[4:21] experts. We

[4:23] aim to increase

[4:24] the percentage of

[4:25] high school classes that

[4:26] offer this

[4:27] experience from approximately 54%

[4:29] to 75%, and then we

[4:30] seek active

[4:31] representation of

[4:32] industry experts

[4:34] across all six

[4:34] DPI career paths.

[4:38] And I can take the

[4:39] last one–connections with the

[4:40] operating

[4:41] community and the

[4:42] industry. Will will lead

[4:43] this direction. This is a

[4:45] great opportunity to

[4:46] work with our

[4:47] student storytellers

[4:48] to publish

[4:49] at least 12

[4:51] operational reviews to

[4:52] showcase the great things the

[4:54] district is doing both

[4:55] operationally and

[4:56] educationally. And

[4:59] our goal would be to

[5:00] increase

[5:01] social media engagement

[5:03] by 10%.

[5:08] Mr. President,

[5:09] Megan.

[5:10] Hmm, I really

[5:11] like all of this,

[5:12] thank you. Hmm, question

[5:15] number three, that's a big

[5:16] increase in one

[5:18] year. So I'm just

[5:21] curious about the idea behind

[5:22] it, and I'd

[5:23] love it if

[5:24] it was something fast-paced,

[5:25] but I just want to

[5:26] hear a little bit more

[5:28] about how that

[5:29] percentage came about.

[5:30] Yes, that's one of the things

[5:32] that also came up in

[5:33] our conversations in the

[5:34] community. This was

[5:35] really important for

[5:36] our community and I

[5:37] think we're doing a

[5:38] good job. But I

[5:40] think, you know,

[5:41] an increase of another 25%,

[5:43] or 20%, would be, well,

[5:44] good for our kids

[5:46] and good for our

[5:47] classrooms as well. We

[5:48] just...we just

[5:49] dug in and

[5:50] got the

[5:51] baseline, and it was

[5:52] really helpful for us to know

[5:53] when we find out that

[5:55] a lot of this is

[5:55] invested in business,

[5:57] you know, just in

[5:57] business classes. So, we

[5:59] , you know, six different

[6:00] areas, uh, we

[6:01] feel like we can

[6:03] expand on that.

[6:05] Mr. President.

[6:06] Marianne.

[6:07] Uh, just to

[6:08] name six

[6:09] areas for those

[6:10] listening, do

[6:11] you mind? Do you have

[6:13] them? Good.

[6:14] I didn't learn them

[6:15] by heart, so I

[6:16] wrote them down because they're very

[6:17] ... Each one of them sounds like there are

[6:18] several of them.

[6:20] Um, marketing,

[6:21] management,

[6:21] entrepreneurship–it’s

[6:23] one thing. This is business and

[6:24] information

[6:25] technology. Family

[6:27] and Consumer Sciences.

[6:29] Health sciences.

[6:31] Agriculture,

[6:32] food, and

[6:33] natural resources are

[6:34] one. And technology and

[6:36] engineering. So, I

[6:38] think we have something to

[6:39] learn from.

[6:43] Mr. President.

[6:44] Yes, Melanie.

[6:45] This is great. Um, I

[6:47] just didn't know about the

[6:48] six

[6:48] continuing or,

[6:50] um, career and

[6:51] technical

[6:52] education paths. The only

[6:54] concern, and

[6:55] maybe it's just a

[6:56] higher level than

[6:58] we have, is just

[6:59] making sure that in

[7:00] our classes that we do

[7:01] , we always

[7:03] make sure that the

[7:04] kids have the

[7:05] visual

[7:05] arts and, you know,

[7:07] all of these things, because that's, I

[7:08] mean, that's what

[7:10] I know, that's the work where

[7:11] it's, or the areas where

[7:13] we think there's going to be

[7:14] work. But it's not that

[7:16] kids can't

[7:17] study

[7:18] history, pop government,

[7:19] English, or

[7:20] art and still

[7:21] get by on it

[7:23] ...That's right. Or there are

[7:24] other jobs.

[7:25] Yes, and these six...It's

[7:26] just six paths,

[7:27] and then each of them

[7:28] branches into

[7:30] several. So, education,

[7:31] art,

[7:32] they're all there.

[7:33] They all

[7:34] branch out. It's like a

[7:35] path that leads to

[7:36] multiple clusters.

[7:38] And I think that's...I

[7:39] mean, I think that

[7:40] often...in high

[7:41] school, the kids are so young.

[7:42] How do you know? But

[7:44] children don't always know

[7:45] how to get interested in

[7:46] a hobby or career. And

[7:47] to have such...

[7:48] And I hope that's

[7:49] true, right?

[7:50] Yes. Cool. Thank you.

[7:53] Erin.

[7:54] Mr. President, I

[7:55] just wanted to

[7:56] ask if

[7:57] this fits into the

[7:58] budget that we have. I

[8:00] mean, is this going to be the

[8:01] additional

[8:02] costs that you

[8:03] expect with such a

[8:04] large increase,

[8:05] or is it going to remain the

[8:06] same because we're

[8:07] going to

[8:08] use what we

[8:09] already have? And that's

[8:10] more

[8:11] community partners.

[8:12] We mostly

[8:13] consider

[8:13] community partners.

[8:14] And we, since we

[8:15] just did the

[8:16] baseline, we're

[8:17] going to do, well, you know,

[8:18] brainstorm to

[8:19] see how we

[8:20] can do this. This

[8:21] brings experts into

[8:22] the audience. We already

[8:25] partner with, well, the

[8:26] chamber, and we have

[8:27] a few

[8:28] job fairs, and we have a

[8:29] few tours, but

[8:31] that can be expanded

[8:32] as we

[8:33] learn more. So that

[8:37] was our

[8:38] baseline, and then we'll

[8:40] brainstorm with, well, these

[8:41] paths to see

[8:42] where we can have

[8:43] additional, well,

[8:44] additional...

[8:45] I really

[8:46] like that idea.

[8:47] I just want to, you know,

[8:48] ask if it's

[8:49] within our capabilities

[8:50] to do this. Perfectly.

[8:51] Thank you.

[8:52] Good question.

[8:53] Good. No more questions

[8:55] . Thank you. Thanks for

[8:56] the information. Uh,

[8:58] moving on to the

[8:58] monthly

[8:59] budget update.

[9:02] Yes,

[9:02] on your screen, well,

[9:04] not much has really

[9:05] changed. Many

[9:06] disagreements are simply

[9:07] related to terminology

[9:07] . You know, things

[9:08] paid for in different

[9:09] months or paid for

[9:10] earlier. So we're pretty

[9:11] early. So, I would like to

[9:13] inform you about

[9:14] some important dates for us

[9:15] .

[9:18] The relocation of all

[9:19] certified

[9:20] employees has just been completed, so

[9:21] we will transfer all of

[9:22] those people and get a

[9:24] budget figure.

[9:26] We are now finalizing

[9:27] the calculation of the

[9:28] income limit for the third

[9:29] Friday. It was

[9:31] served on Friday.

[9:33] We are currently

[9:34] in the process of

[9:35] confirming all of

[9:36] our open

[9:37] registrations and releases,

[9:38] and as of now we

[9:39] have about

[9:40] $600,000, which is great

[9:41] news. On October 15, we

[9:44] received

[9:44] certification of

[9:45] assistance. So we will

[9:47] get it. It looks like

[9:49] we will be

[9:49] getting more

[9:50] state aid this year

[9:51] because

[9:52] our property values haven't been

[9:53] growing as well as the

[9:54] rest of the

[9:55] state. It wasn't

[9:56] great news, but, um

[9:57] , good news for

[9:58] our

[9:59] funding formula. And then

[10:00] , at the end of, um,

[10:01] October, we will finally

[10:02] determine the value of

[10:03] our property.

[10:04] So,

[10:05] important dates are approaching for the

[10:06] final

[10:07] approval of our

[10:08] budget. And then the

[10:09] next page is

[10:10] just...hmm, I think

[10:11] we talked about that.

[10:13] This sounded

[10:14] familiar to me, but this was

[10:15] our first month of, um,

[10:16] our

[10:17] health

[10:18] insurance experience, and

[10:19] we're currently operating at

[10:20] 87%. So we will get

[10:22] our next report on

[10:25] October 8th. Then we

[10:26] will have data for

[10:27] another month. Hmm,

[10:31] everything

[10:31] looks good at first.

[10:35] Ryan? Thank you, Mr.

[10:36] President. Bonnie, you

[10:38] mentioned, um, government

[10:39] assistance. You said it looked like

[10:41] we would

[10:41] get more, but

[10:42] I just wanted to

[10:43] clarify. More

[10:44] compared to

[10:45] previous estimates

[10:46] ?

[10:46] More compared to

[10:47] our estimate on

[10:48] July 1.

[10:48] Good, but still

[10:49] significantly less than

[10:50] last year.

[10:51] Right.

[10:52] Okay, thank you.

[10:53] Yes.

[10:56] Megan?

[10:57] Yes, you know, I have

[10:59] something. Sorry. Thank you

[11:00] , Mr. President. Hmm,

[11:02] Bonnie, it's, um, great

[11:04] to see that, um,

[11:05] healthcare costs

[11:06] aren't going

[11:08] over 100%. Hooray!

[11:10] Thank you. Hmm, do you have any

[11:12] idea if

[11:16] this is partly due to

[11:16] reduced

[11:17] usage or if it's

[11:18] just

[11:19] cost containment? I know it's

[11:20] hard to say

[11:21] based on one

[11:22] data point, but

[11:23] yeah, I think it's

[11:24] pretty early. We

[11:25] saw a lot of

[11:26] people, when we were

[11:26] looking at our data

[11:28] with the Hudson doctor,

[11:29] take this step, and

[11:30] since we have a

[11:31] fixed cost of

[11:32] about 70,000...Um,

[11:33] I think

[11:34] our claims came in at

[11:35] about 300?

[11:38] Yes, they were significantly

[11:39] exceeded. So these are

[11:40] statements that

[11:41] healthcare partners would have

[11:42] that are simply an

[11:44] advantage for us.

[11:45] So, I think that was

[11:46] very important. But

[11:47] we had a lot of people

[11:48] who switched to

[11:50] Hudson doctors. And this is

[11:52] our goal.

[11:53] Thank you.

[11:55] So, in your

[11:56] experience, are there any

[11:58] particular times of the year when

[11:59] we expect

[12:00] usage to increase or not? Is

[12:03] it

[12:04] stable enough? This is just a

[12:05] non-standard question

[12:07] .

[12:07] Yes, I mean,

[12:08] we have a lot

[12:09] more medical

[12:10] checkups in the summer simply because

[12:11] people have the day off.

[12:12] Um, if you

[12:12] look at our

[12:14] dental claims

[12:15] , July is

[12:15] always crazy. I

[12:17] think we are way

[12:18] over budget,

[12:19] but it always

[12:20] evens out. Um, if

[12:22] you look back on the

[12:23] last 3 years,

[12:24] I guess people are just

[12:25] trying to get

[12:27] things taken care of before

[12:28] school starts, but yeah.

[12:29] I think last

[12:31] year in July we had

[12:33] 147%.

[12:34] Well, yeah, we had two

[12:35] really...

[12:36] Yeah, we had two

[12:37] really big statements,

[12:38] and you know, obviously

[12:40] 1 month doesn't make a

[12:41] trend. But if

[12:44] you look at the

[12:45] history of the last 2

[12:46] years, July has always

[12:47] been well above 100%

[12:48] because in July you

[12:50] pay for services

[12:51] that were provided in

[12:52] June. And also some

[12:56] services that were

[12:57] provided in July. So it

[12:59] will be interesting

[12:59] to see what

[13:00] impact the changes

[13:02] to our plan will have,

[13:03] primarily on

[13:03] August. Yes, it's

[13:05] reflected in

[13:06] August, but I

[13:07] mean it's very, very positive.

[13:12] Thank you, Bonnie. Thanks,

[13:13] Nick. No further

[13:15] questions, we'll move on

[13:16] to the third Friday,

[13:17] Nick.

[13:18] Yes. Uh, if you

[13:19] go to the

[13:21] Third

[13:22] Friday count documents...Excuse me,

[13:23] if you go to the

[13:25] Third

[13:26] Friday count documents, there's some

[13:31] good news, and there's some

[13:32] not so good news. Uh, the way you

[13:34] look at it, you know,

[13:38] our enrollment is

[13:39] down

[13:41] about 150 students, I

[13:42] think it's about 148.

[13:44] But I have to

[13:45] point out a couple of

[13:46] things to you: The number of

[13:47] kids in 4K is down

[13:49] because there's a

[13:50] new 4K program, "Get Kids

[13:52] Ahead." We talked about

[13:53] this when several of our

[13:54] educational institutions

[13:55] chose this program

[13:56] instead of the school one. So

[13:59] , you know, in itself,

[14:00] I don't know exactly

[14:01] how many children, because we

[14:02] don't track them, because

[14:04] they're in a

[14:05] different state

[14:06] program. So that

[14:08] explains why some of

[14:09] the numbers have decreased,

[14:11] especially in 4K,

[14:12] because, you know, the number of

[14:14] kids in 4K has decreased by

[14:15] about 17 in

[14:16] that direction. Uh,

[14:18] but overall, you know,

[14:19] high school is

[14:20] down about

[14:21] 20. Uh, high

[14:22] school is supposedly

[14:22] holding up, and

[14:23] elementary schools are really

[14:24] hard to compare because

[14:25] we redistributed

[14:26] districts from last

[14:27] year to

[14:29] elementary school attendance districts,

[14:30] so it's hard to look

[14:31] at cohort groups.

[14:32] You need to look in more detail

[14:34] below. Uh,

[14:35] and if you look at

[14:36] this diagonally across the

[14:37] cohort groups, you can

[14:39] see where everything

[14:40] is. Uh, but

[14:41] overall, you know,

[14:42] at the bottom of the table, we

[14:43] also track

[14:44] Trinity and

[14:45] St. Patrick's, as well

[14:47] as

[14:48] home school performance.

[14:48] Remember that

[14:49] homeschool rates

[14:50] will never be

[14:52] accurate until October,

[14:53] when

[14:54] homeschool registration is mandatory. Therefore

[14:56] , when we talk about the

[14:57] coverage level in

[14:58] the district, we tend to

[14:59] wait until the

[15:00] January count, because then

[15:01] we have all the official

[15:02] data. Uh, but

[15:03] St. Patrick's is

[15:05] up about

[15:06] 19. Uh, uh,

[15:07] Trinity is

[15:08] down about

[15:10] nine, and as you

[15:11] said, homeschooling

[15:13] is a moot

[15:14] point right now until we

[15:15] get, uh,

[15:16] all the

[15:17] homeschooling data,

[15:18] and a lot of it doesn't

[15:19] come in until October.

[15:21] So, uh, once we

[15:22] get all this

[15:23] information, then we

[15:25] can calculate

[15:26] the reach rate

[15:27] and other things to

[15:29] know exactly how we're

[15:30] doing and what it

[15:31] looks like. So, just

[15:32] a few things to

[15:33] look out for,

[15:34] which Bonnie talked a little bit about

[15:35] . Uh,

[15:36] last year we

[15:37] had 178 open

[15:38] registration applications. We are

[15:40] currently trending

[15:41] towards 172 open

[15:42] registration applications.

[15:44] We had 257 applications

[15:45] for registration, but

[15:46] this year we

[15:48] only had 234 applications. So, uh

[15:49] , and part of that is

[15:50] because we're

[15:51] not the only county in

[15:52] this area that's

[15:53] seeing a

[15:54] decline in

[15:55] registration applications.

[15:56] I would say that

[15:56] most, if not

[15:57] all, districts in

[15:58] St. Croix County

[15:59] are showing some

[16:00] decline in

[16:01] enrollment, even some of

[16:02] those districts that are

[16:03] building a lot

[16:04] more housing than

[16:05] we have. So, are there any

[16:06] questions about

[16:07] student numbers or

[16:08] the count for Third

[16:09] Friday? This is solely

[16:11] the number of students on

[16:12] site. This is not the weighted

[16:14] number of students

[16:15] we are looking at and for

[16:17] budget purposes

[16:19] because, for example, 4K students are

[16:20] not counted as a

[16:21] full 1.0, they are

[16:22] counted as 0.6,

[16:25] etc., but are there any

[16:27] questions about the

[16:27] Third

[16:29] Friday count?

[16:31] No questions? So

[16:32] I'll stay with Nick

[16:33] on the security and staffing plan

[16:35] .

[16:36] So, this was a

[16:37] belated report

[16:38] card. This is not something

[16:39] you need to

[16:40] vote on

[16:40] tonight or anything

[16:41] like that, but one of

[16:42] the questions the board

[16:43] asked last

[16:43] time when we

[16:44] raised the issue

[16:45] of the potential for a

[16:45] third SRO was

[16:46] can you outline

[16:47] some of the costs

[16:47] associated with that? And

[16:48] so, uh, we just

[16:49] wrapped up some of these

[16:51] things today. And

[16:52] so, you know, we had

[16:53] some

[16:54] conversations with, uh, the city of

[16:56] Hudson. And uh, are

[16:58] they interested in

[16:59] this? What would it

[17:00] look like if we

[17:01] went down this path? Hmm,

[17:03] because usually with SRO

[17:04] it works like this: we

[17:05] pay 75% of the cost,

[17:07] they pay 25% of

[17:08] the cost, because they have

[17:10] us for 9 months a year,

[17:11] then 3 months a year,

[17:13] that's how it is. And so

[17:16] what happened was, we

[17:17] sorted it out, and Bonnie

[17:19] helped put it together.

[17:20] Hmm, how much are we currently

[17:21] paying the two

[17:24] part-

[17:25] time campus security officers? Not the

[17:26] current SRO. We have an

[17:28] SRO at the high school.

[17:29] Plus we have two

[17:31] campus security officers. And

[17:33] then we have our

[17:34] regular, um,

[17:35] campus observers

[17:37] , and these are the others. But these are two

[17:39] campus security officers who

[17:40] work part-

[17:41] time at the

[17:42] high school. Hmm, we're

[17:43] spending about

[17:44] $61,000 a year out of what

[17:45] we've

[17:46] budgeted for these

[17:47] two people. For us to

[17:49] pay 3/4 of the SRO, that's

[17:50] about $116,000

[17:52] per year. So, the difference is

[17:55] about

[17:56] $55,000. As

[17:57] for, uh,

[17:58] cost. But the difference is

[18:00] that

[18:01] our self-assessment

[18:02] organizations were able to

[18:03] pay our

[18:04] self-assessment

[18:05] organizations from the

[18:06] 80 fund. This is, uh, our

[18:07] public works fund. Uh

[18:08] , and although the costs will be added to the

[18:09] public works fund,

[18:11] we

[18:12] have a fund balance that

[18:13] can cover it this

[18:14] year. And then we will

[18:15] be able to make

[18:16] adjustments to

[18:17] next year's budget. Uh,

[18:18] there will be savings to

[18:19] fund 10. And

[18:20] so when we

[18:21] talk primarily

[18:22] about budget

[18:24] issues, fund 10 is the

[18:25] budget that we are

[18:26] always most

[18:27] concerned about. Uh, and that would be a

[18:29] budget cut of

[18:30] about

[18:32] $61,000 to

[18:32] fund 10. Now

[18:34] , we talked about

[18:35] how these positions would be, uh

[18:37] , regulated,

[18:38] the position would be

[18:40] primarily for elementary

[18:41] school students. Uh, and

[18:43] serving

[18:44] elementary school students.

[18:47] However, whenever the

[18:49] high school or middle

[18:50] school SRO was gone, this SRO

[18:51] would fill in so that

[18:53] we always had someone

[18:54] at the high school while

[18:55] we were working. That's

[19:00] why the district initially

[19:01] added two

[19:03] campus safety officers back in

[19:05] 2015. Hmm, the SRO

[19:08] was called out of the building for

[19:09] various issues, and

[19:10] then the building

[19:11] was left without

[19:12] anyone there, and that's how

[19:14] they added it. This

[19:17] position would also not

[19:18] only provide

[19:19] support and work

[19:21] with our elementary

[19:22] school, etc.,

[19:23] substituting for the high school and

[19:24] middle school when

[19:25] needed, but would also

[19:26] work with Josh

[19:27] Galverson, our

[19:28] assistant

[19:29] principal who

[19:30] handles

[19:31] safety issues. This person would

[19:34] also have been, and I know,

[19:35] discussing this with the

[19:36] city. We could

[19:38] send that person

[19:39] for training and not

[19:40] replace them,

[19:42] because that's one of the things

[19:43] that happens with SROs

[19:44] about every 3

[19:45] years, they get replaced.

[19:46] So, we can

[19:47] invest in this

[19:48] person, send them

[19:49] to training, they

[19:50] will still work with

[19:51] the Department of

[19:52] Homeland Security

[19:53] and the U.S. Secret Service

[19:54] , which is who we

[19:55] work with on

[19:56] security and protection issues

[19:58] related to schools. They

[19:59] are experts in

[20:00] school safety. And so it was

[20:03] they,

[20:03] the Department of

[20:04] Homeland Security, that

[20:05] did the

[20:06] school security assessments, and you

[20:08] know, this

[20:09] position would be working with

[20:10] school personnel to

[20:11] review; well, what have

[20:12] they identified as

[20:13] problems or challenges

[20:15] or something like that

[20:16] within that, and what are the

[20:17] things we need to

[20:18] do? They

[20:21] will also work with

[20:22] district staff

[20:23] on what training

[20:24] we need to

[20:25] do and what we

[20:26] need to do with

[20:27] staff, and they

[20:28] will provide

[20:29] recommendations on

[20:30] school safety issues

[20:31] for the future, and this is what

[20:32] it looks like. This

[20:35] position can

[20:36] start as early as

[20:38] January 1st, because the city

[20:39] remembers that their

[20:41] fiscal year is from

[20:42] January 1st to December 31st, and

[20:44] ours is from July 1st to

[20:45] June 30th. Hmm, that's exactly what you

[20:48] can

[20:49] start with then. And

[20:52] then we could go in

[20:53] that direction if the

[20:54] council wanted to go in

[20:55] that direction. There

[20:56] simply wasn't any interest among

[20:57] school districts in

[20:58] other counties

[20:59] in

[21:00] taking a stand at the

[21:01] district level. Um, the way

[21:03] we look at it,

[21:04] being able to have someone in

[21:06] our buildings

[21:06] who

[21:09] has police

[21:10] powers and

[21:11] authority in the event of a disturbance is

[21:11] an advantage over

[21:12] our armed

[21:14] guards and

[21:14] private

[21:15] contractors who don't

[21:16] necessarily have

[21:17] those police

[21:18] powers. So, um,

[21:22] that's our recommendation

[21:24] if you want to

[21:25] step it up and

[21:26] move forward. If

[21:28] you say, "No, um, that's

[21:29] not the direction

[21:31] we're thinking of," that's

[21:32] fine too. I'm completely

[21:33] open to that. I

[21:34] just want to

[21:35] make sure we

[21:36] discussed this

[21:37] issue again. Well, that's an

[21:40] advantage. We'll

[21:41] continue, Molly.

[21:43] Thank you. Let's.

[21:44] I just wanted to

[21:45] say that this is an

[21:46] advantage for both us and the

[21:47] city. Um, it's

[21:49] cost savings for

[21:50] them and flexibility,

[21:51] right?

[21:52] Yes, I think it

[21:53] helps the city because

[21:55] they probably have

[21:59] some budget

[22:00] issues right now that

[22:02] they're working through, and

[22:03] it essentially allows them to

[22:04] set aside a position,

[22:05] probably as a cutback

[22:06] for them. Otherwise, it would be

[22:10] very difficult for them to

[22:11] take on

[22:12] additional expenses at

[22:13] this time because of the way

[22:14] their

[22:15] budget is structured. Molly.

[22:19] Um, so I

[22:20] understand correctly, we have an SRO,

[22:22] it would be an additional SRO

[22:23] that is located at the

[22:25] high school and the

[22:26] middle school, right?

[22:27] Or will they be one

[22:28] in high school and

[22:29] then a floater?

[22:30] We currently have one in

[22:32] high school. We have

[22:33] one in high school

[22:34] .

[22:35] Good.

[22:35] This one will mainly

[22:36] support

[22:37] elementary schoolers and,

[22:38] well,

[22:39] replace the high

[22:40] school in high

[22:41] school when their

[22:41] parents leave. And

[22:42] also they will have

[22:43] some time and

[22:44] opportunity to be

[22:45] more proactive in

[22:46] our

[22:47] security and defense planning, and

[22:48] that's also in that vein. I

[22:49] think I

[22:50] understood correctly, and thank you for the

[22:52] explanation. I think that

[22:53] sounds great. I

[22:54] think that, um, I would

[22:55] probably also support

[22:57] keeping our two

[23:00] part-

[23:01] time campus safety officers. Hmm,

[23:03] just because sometimes

[23:05] more people is better. And

[23:07] this is just my opinion, but

[23:08] if I wanted to bring

[23:09] it up for discussion, what do

[23:10] other people think about

[23:12] this? Because

[23:14] it worries me a little,

[23:15] we would go from three

[23:16] people in high school

[23:17] to two. Do they

[23:18] change days,

[23:19] part-

[23:20] time?

[23:20] Yes, they are part-

[23:21] time, they are

[23:22] part-

[23:23] time.

[23:24] So I find this

[23:26] a little disturbing, but

[23:27] can we

[23:27] talk about it

[23:28] more?

[23:29] Yes, definitely.

[23:31] Mr. President,

[23:32] I guess on that

[23:34] line of thought,

[23:35] given that this

[23:37] new SRO is primarily

[23:38] dedicated to

[23:39] the elementary school, but

[23:40] then it would

[23:41] support the high

[23:42] school, if this SRO

[23:44] is called, how often do

[23:45] we know if the high

[23:46] school is doing this SRO in the

[23:48] high school or the middle

[23:49] school, if it can't

[23:50] be there, that we

[23:52] drag the

[23:53] elementary school SRO there? Do

[23:55] we have an estimate?

[23:56] Or we could, like... I

[23:58] understand that you may

[23:59] not have...

[24:00] It may not be as

[24:01] common as it seems,

[24:02] but it seems that

[24:03] sometimes we... we use them a lot

[24:04] ,

[24:05] right? And often we are without

[24:06] them, and then we either

[24:07] drag

[24:08] high school along to

[24:09] cover it up, and then there is a

[24:11] problem in high school. So

[24:12] , I...quite often. I

[24:13] mean, I think

[24:15] they do

[24:15] a lot of training, and

[24:17] it definitely put

[24:18] us in a difficult

[24:18] position.

[24:19] I think it would be

[24:20] helpful to have this

[24:21] assessment as part of

[24:21] continuing

[24:22] to refine this

[24:23] plan. Overall, I

[24:24] really like it.

[24:26] I think it's worth

[24:27] further

[24:28] discussion, and it

[24:29] kind of

[24:30] builds on Molly's idea that

[24:32] maybe it's not a replacement,

[24:34] it's a complement, but

[24:35] getting more

[24:36] data to

[24:37] understand how often

[24:38] they're being pulled would be

[24:40] helpful in

[24:41] guiding that. I don't

[24:42] know what others are thinking

[24:43] or where they

[24:44] fall. I would like to

[24:47] see

[24:48] job descriptions for all of them

[24:49] so that we in the community

[24:50] have an idea of

[24:51] what their role is, and

[24:52] I would also like to have one

[24:54] for the part-

[24:58] time security officers. Um, because

[25:00] I'm curious how it's

[25:02] different.

[25:03] Hmm.

[25:05] And I mean,

[25:06] safety is

[25:07] extremely important to me,

[25:09] so I understand what you mean

[25:12] , Molly.

[25:14] So, this is information

[25:15] I would like to have.

[25:17] Good. Megan.

[25:19] Yes, I just want to

[25:20] thank you for this

[25:21] work. I find this

[25:24] really fascinating.

[25:26] I like the

[25:27] idea of

[25:28] law enforcement getting

[25:29] more and more

[25:33] emergency and crisis preparedness training, and

[25:35] working

[25:36] with DHS and the Secret

[25:37] Service. And

[25:39] I also like what a

[25:40] net benefit it is for

[25:41] our community as

[25:42] a whole to have someone

[25:43] who goes through this

[25:44] training. Um, this is

[25:45] just fascinating. This would be

[25:47] someone who would be there for the

[25:49] long term

[25:49] . I mean

[25:51] , of course, you can't

[25:52] force people

[25:53] not to change jobs,

[25:54] but we can

[25:55] invest in someone,

[25:56] um, and it will be the same

[25:57] person. And I

[25:58] like the idea of

[26:00] having someone

[26:01] working in our

[26:01] elementary schools, and

[26:03] then I personally

[26:08] prefer,

[26:09] which is to have

[26:09] law enforcement officers and

[26:10] additional training

[26:12] when someone is

[26:12] being removed, because I

[26:14] just think that, um,

[26:15] it's just a net

[26:16] benefit for our

[26:17] students and our

[26:18] staff.

[26:22] Yeah, nothing against,

[26:23] you know, security guards

[26:24] versus, you know,

[26:25] private security, I

[26:26] just think it's

[26:28] better for the community. It's

[26:31] better for kids

[26:32] to see police officers,

[26:33] you know, um, and I think

[26:34] it's a good

[26:35] opportunity

[26:36] to partner with the

[26:37] city and work

[26:38] together on this. So,

[26:41] Brian...

[26:43] Yes, I agree. This is a

[26:45] net benefit for

[26:46] our district, and Bob,

[26:47] emphasizing your

[26:48] point about

[26:49] having students around

[26:51] real

[26:51] police officers, I

[26:52] think it's a real

[26:54] net benefit. Um, I would...

[26:56] I liked

[26:57] Molly's idea of

[26:57] considering

[26:59] keeping two

[27:01] part-

[27:02] time positions. I think that

[27:03] might make sense. So I

[27:04] would also like to

[27:05] see more

[27:06] information on this

[27:07] . I have one

[27:08] question. Um, fund 80,

[27:10] I understand that we

[27:11] will pay in the

[27:13] first year from the balance of the

[27:14] fund, but in general, how do

[27:16] we finance fund

[27:18] 80? Um, could you

[27:21] just talk

[27:22] about this in general, Bonnie

[27:23] or Nick?

[27:24] Yes. I mean, and

[27:25] you know, the 80 fund–it's a

[27:26] fund that's charged

[27:28] on charges, you know,

[27:29] so some of the things that

[27:30] happen in the

[27:32] 80 fund generate

[27:33] enough revenue to

[27:34] cover its own

[27:35] expenses.

[27:36] How much do we charge? 425? 450?

[27:40] $450,000 per year to the

[27:41] 80 fund to cover

[27:43] community education costs. Um, just

[27:45] to give you, you know,

[27:46] a little rough

[27:47] estimate. I mean, it

[27:48] probably takes

[27:50] about 13 cents off the

[27:51] tax rate to

[27:52] make a million

[27:53] dollars. So that's

[27:54] probably about 6 cents,

[27:55] uh, of the

[27:56] housing tax rate for a

[27:57] fund of 80. So when you

[27:59] start looking at it

[27:59] , uh, if

[28:00] you need another 1/5 of

[28:02] that, that's

[28:02] about a penny

[28:03] of the housing tax rate

[28:05] to cover

[28:06] the costs associated with

[28:07] that. And you know, so

[28:09] for a house you, I

[28:10] mean, you're

[28:11] basically, uh,

[28:12] talking about a dollar per

[28:14] 100,000. That's how

[28:16] it works out. Uh, not a

[28:19] huge, not a

[28:19] huge leap

[28:21] for people.

[28:21] I agree. Uh, one

[28:23] additional question

[28:24] I wanted to ask

[28:26] earlier. Why does the transition

[28:28] to SRO make it

[28:29] suitable for fund 80

[28:31] ?

[28:33] Because it is considered

[28:34] community service.

[28:36] Yes, due to security, it

[28:37] doesn't meet their

[28:38] criteria, but

[28:39] community service with a

[28:41] police liaison officer does.

[28:43] Another advantage of the 80 fund

[28:44] over the 10 fund

[28:45] is that

[28:46] there is no 80 fund that is not

[28:47] subject to the

[28:48] income limit, so it is not

[28:49] tied to

[28:50] enrollment. This is whatever

[28:51] you, as a council,

[28:52] consider appropriate to

[28:53] charge. So that's

[28:55] the advantage of the 80 fund

[28:56] over the 10 fund.

[28:58] Thank you. I, uh, also

[28:59] think, I always like to

[29:00] ask, you know,

[29:01] how do we compare ourselves

[29:03] to other counties

[29:04] our size? And

[29:05] different, you know, every

[29:06] region is different

[29:08] , um, across the state,

[29:09] but, uh, you know, we're not.

[29:11] And thank you, Tyra, for

[29:12] voicing your opinion

[29:13] about the difficulties or the

[29:15] amount of time

[29:16] you don't have, um, because we

[29:18] don't know.

[29:19] You know, we don't, you know,

[29:20] we, uh, I guess,

[29:21] you know, the guy in

[29:22] high school sits

[29:23] in that little

[29:24] lobby in the center and,

[29:25] you know, claps the kids

[29:26] when they come in.

[29:27] I, I, you know, and, and, but,

[29:29] we don't have this

[29:30] daily, you know, what, they do and

[29:33] how

[29:34] busy they are; and, uh, but

[29:35] obviously I

[29:35] agree with everyone

[29:37] here that, you know, we, we

[29:38] want to err on the

[29:39] side of, uh, safety,

[29:41] you know, and coverage.

[29:43] So, uh...Does

[29:44] anyone have any more questions?

[29:47] Yes, sir.

[29:48] Uh...I have a few

[29:49] questions. So, during

[29:50] training, like in

[29:52] school, these SROs,

[29:52] whether

[29:54] they work

[29:55] full-time or part-time

[29:56] , are

[29:57] they located

[29:58] inside the school, or

[29:59] mostly outside of it?

[30:01] Uh, they're inside...

[30:03] the school.

[30:04] So, SROs are

[30:05] police officers.

[30:08] School safety officers are

[30:09] not police officers. Yes.

[30:11] Uh, sometimes they can be

[30:12] outside, sometimes they

[30:13] can be

[30:14] inside. Uh, but

[30:15] our SROs have offices in

[30:16] our offices, you know,

[30:17] in every

[30:18] high school and middle

[30:20] school office, so they

[30:21] work inside the

[30:22] building. They may

[30:23] go outside if there

[30:24] is something outside, but yes,

[30:25] they are mostly

[30:26] inside.

[30:26] Okay, that's good to know.

[30:28] I...there are a lot of schools in

[30:29] cities that

[30:30] place them outside of the

[30:31] schools, so I thought it was a

[30:33] pertinent question

[30:34] . Um, and is there any

[30:37] reason why we

[30:38] would want to consider

[30:39] whether there is a cost saving

[30:40] in performing

[30:41] partial SROs through a

[30:42] private security

[30:44] company, which could

[30:45] save a lot of

[30:46] money. Hmm,

[30:49] believe it or not,

[30:50] many of these

[30:51] private security

[30:52] companies actually

[30:53] train

[30:53] police officers and

[30:54] provide them with additional

[30:56] training. And I think it would be

[30:58] very valuable to

[31:00] at least consider this, to

[31:01] entertain this, um,

[31:02] part. And they

[31:03] work with

[31:04] law

[31:05] enforcement,

[31:06] Homeland Security,

[31:07] and all that other

[31:08] stuff. Hmm, are these...

[31:10] Another question

[31:11] I have is, are these

[31:12] people wearing... Yeah...

[31:16] Uh, I mean these... These... These are

[31:18] police officers. So, this is

[31:20] ...These Hudson full-time

[31:21] police officers

[31:23] are SROs. So,

[31:25] security guards, private

[31:26] security guards, are not

[31:27] considered SROs because

[31:28] they are not police officers.

[31:30] They are private

[31:31] security guards.

[31:32] Good.

[31:33] So, school

[31:33] resource officers are

[31:35] when you bring in

[31:36] outside

[31:36] law enforcement, whether

[31:38] it's a sheriff's deputy

[31:39] or a police officer, they

[31:40] 're an SRO. The guards that

[31:43] some

[31:44] counties use, it seems

[31:45] Madison, uh,

[31:46] turned to

[31:47] the guards and pulled

[31:48] all their

[31:49] police officers out of the

[31:50] buildings. Even our

[31:52] private security guards,

[31:52] our two

[31:53] employees who

[31:54] work in the county, uh

[31:55] , both work

[31:56] part-

[31:57] time. They seem to be

[31:58] dividing time. So

[31:59] they are not there at the same time

[32:00] . Uh, they're also

[32:02] armed officers. Uh,

[32:03] so, uh, we use them too

[32:04] , but,

[32:06] uh, you know, I said

[32:07] one of the benefits that

[32:08] we see with

[32:09] the police is that

[32:10] they start to

[32:11] build this relationship

[32:12] with the Hudson Police

[32:13] Department

[32:14] or the

[32:16] North Hudson Police Department

[32:18] or, you know, whatever it is

[32:19] . And that, you know, the

[32:20] main focus of the

[32:21] school

[32:22] resource officer program is

[32:23] not necessarily

[32:24] reactive,

[32:26] uh, policing

[32:27] . It's more

[32:28] about building

[32:29] relationships with

[32:29] law enforcement

[32:30] and being more

[32:31] proactive.

[32:33] And so we see this as an

[32:34] opportunity for

[32:35] law enforcement

[32:36] versus the

[32:36] private sector, uh

[32:38] , just

[32:38] providing security for the

[32:39] building.

[32:41] Okay, thank you.

[32:43] And as far as I know,

[32:45] we don't need to

[32:45] vote to

[32:46] proceed if we

[32:47] want to see

[32:48] more information on

[32:49] this. Are there any

[32:50] deadlines, as you

[32:51] said with our

[32:51] budget, the city

[32:52] budget, when you would

[32:53] ideally like to

[32:54] see a solution?

[32:55] Well, I mean,

[32:56] we can

[32:57] prepare job

[32:58] descriptions for the

[32:59] October

[33:00] board meeting. Um, and we

[33:01] can announce

[33:02] it in October, so

[33:03] if you

[33:04] feel

[33:05] comfortable at that time,

[33:06] you can move

[33:07] on. And if you want to

[33:08] , you know, bring it up

[33:09] at that time,

[33:10] you can definitely

[33:11] do that. But I

[33:12] can definitely assure you

[33:13] that I have written down job

[33:14] descriptions for both SROs

[33:16] and

[33:17] security officers. And

[33:18] then, if we

[33:19] can get

[33:20] some information about

[33:21] how often people

[33:22] are absent, um,

[33:23] we'll try to

[33:24] get that for you too;

[33:25] but then it will be

[33:26] set up that if

[33:27] you decide

[33:28] to continue this in

[33:29] October, we can

[33:30] do it and then we

[33:31] can notify

[33:32] the city. If you want to

[33:33] bring it up

[33:34] at that time, we

[33:35] can do that too.

[33:36] Aaron, do you have

[33:37] any more?

[33:38] Um, Nick, could

[33:39] you also provide the full

[33:41] cost so we

[33:42] can see the full

[33:43] figure with all the SROs

[33:44] proposed by the SROs

[33:49] for the budget?

[33:51] So what is there now?

[33:54] Yes, what we have now,

[33:55] but it's two part-

[33:56] time, and you

[33:57] listed that

[33:57] we have one full-

[33:58] time in

[33:59] high school, one

[34:00] full-time in

[34:01] middle school now,

[34:02] right? And we have two

[34:03] part-time

[34:04] jobs.

[34:06] No, so our current

[34:07] staffing model

[34:08] is to

[34:09] replace two

[34:11] part-

[34:12] time security guards. So,

[34:14] each SRO, to give you

[34:16] an idea, costs

[34:17] about $116,000.

[34:20] So, we have a $116,000 SRO

[34:21] at the high

[34:23] school, about

[34:24] $116,000 at the middle

[34:26] school, but in addition to those

[34:27] two SROs, we have two

[34:29] part-

[34:31] time security guards at the

[34:32] high school. That's what that

[34:35] $61,000 is.

[34:36] And is this generally for

[34:37] both of them, or is it for

[34:38] everyone?

[34:38] This is generally for

[34:39] both of them.

[34:40] Good.

[34:41] So, we are proposing

[34:42] to add another SRO for

[34:44] $116,000.

[34:46] Yes. So, in this

[34:47] document that you

[34:48] have, it shows that if

[34:50] two part-time security officers were

[34:52] to

[34:53] ultimately,

[34:55] you know, we were to

[34:56] terminate that

[34:56] program and just

[34:58] continue the

[34:59] SRO program, that would be a

[35:00] savings of about

[35:01] $61,000 from the

[35:02] general fund.

[35:04] However, a fund of 80, uh, would have

[35:05] raised about

[35:07] $116,000 in expenses. So

[35:09] the difference, uh, if you

[35:10] replace them, the difference

[35:12] is about

[35:13] $54,000, adding

[35:14] that extra

[35:15] police officer. If

[35:17] the board decides to

[35:18] keep the two

[35:22] part-time security officers and

[35:23] keep the SRO, the

[35:24] additional SRO, it's

[35:25] just an

[35:26] additional cost of

[35:27] $116,000

[35:28] for the additional SRO,

[35:30] but that can be

[35:31] covered under Fund 80. It

[35:32] won't impact Fund 10.

[35:35] Okay, so we'll

[35:36] look at the bottom line of

[35:37] about

[35:38] $400,000 per year

[35:39] for those positions.

[35:43] Um, in, in, well, in. Do you mean as a

[35:45] whole?

[35:47] You know, it's not

[35:48] $400,000 right now.

[35:50] No, I'm using

[35:51] the numbers you just

[35:52] gave me. I

[35:53] mean, doesn't that

[35:54] add up?

[35:56] Yes. Yeah, I

[35:58] mean, we're

[35:59] spending almost

[36:01] $240,000, probably

[36:02] right now, on our two

[36:03] self-defenses, plus another

[36:05] $61,000 on

[36:06] security guards, so that's

[36:08] $300,000, and if you

[36:09] add 116, it's

[36:10] a little over

[36:12] $400,000 total.

[36:13] Good. But the top

[36:15] priority is the

[36:16] safety of our children.

[36:18] I don't object to that.

[36:19] I just want to know

[36:21] what the numbers are.

[36:21] But, Mr. President,

[36:23] can I...

[36:23] Yes... I

[36:24] just want to clarify

[36:25] for those watching. The

[36:26] first part you

[36:28] said is 284,000, Nick, right

[36:31] ? It's in the budget. We already

[36:32] have it...

[36:33] about 240,000.

[36:35] We're already talking

[36:38] about additional

[36:39] costs.

[36:40] Yes. So,

[36:41] I just want to

[36:42] make it very clear in this

[36:43] discussion that we are not

[36:44] adding $400,000

[36:45] to the budget.

[36:47] No, if we keep what

[36:48] we have now and

[36:50] add SROs, it would be

[36:52] 116,000. If we replace

[36:53] two

[36:55] security officers with SROs...

Hudson School Board Work Session September 28, 2026 LIVE

Transcript