MSBA Journal: March-April 2014 by Minnesota School Boards Association

MINNESOTA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION

March-April 2014

Volume 66, No. 5

Monroe School Rewarded for Innovation, Closing Achievement Gap Budgeting Strategies for School Boards Engagement Innovation: Minneapolis-based PreciouStatus App is Revolutionizing Leadership Parent-Teacher Communication Conference Scrapbook Pages 28-29

Vision,

Mindset,

Grit!

2 MSBA Journal

MARCH 2014

1 �� Charter School Board Training, St. Peter 9 �� Daylight Saving Time Begins 11 �� Township Election Day (no meetings or activities 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.)

APRIL 2014

Divisions 4 5 6 32 35

QUOTES OF NOTE MSBA Staff

STRAIGHT TALK Kirk Schneidawind, MSBA Executive Director ESIDENT’S COLUMN PR Walter Hautala, MSBA President VENDOR DIRECTORY Pierre Productions & Promotions, Inc. SK MSBA A Bill Kautt, Associate Director of Management Services

Articles 8 12 16

Budgeting Strategies For School Boards Jamie Skjeveland, Ed.D.

Learning Walks connect board members with district goals Lynne Kovash

Erasing the walls of your school Josh Westphal

5–7 �� NSBA Convention (New Orleans, LA) 9 �� MSBA Phase III Orientation, Mankato 11 �� MSBA Phase III Orientation, St. Cloud 12 �� MSBA Phase IV, St. Cloud 13–14 �� MSBA Board of Directors’ Meeting 14 �� MSBA Insurance Trust Meeting 25 �� MSBA Phase III Orientation, Minneapolis 26 �� MSBA Phase IV, Minneapolis 30–May 2 �� MASBO Annual Conference

MAY 2014 15–16 �� MSBA Board of Directors’ Annual Meeting 22 �� Minnesota School District Liquid Asset Fund Plus Meeting 26 �� Memorial Day (no meetings)

JUNE 2014 12 �� MSBA Insurance Trust Meeting

Monroe School rewarded for innovation, closing achievement gap Mary Olson

Engagement Innovation: Minneapolisbased PreciouStatus app is revolutionizing parent-teacher communication Bruce Lombard

The MSBA Journal thanks the students of Sauk Centre Public Schools for sharing their art in this issue. COVER ART:

Preston Sorenson

C O N T E N T S M a r c h / A p r i l 2 0 1 4 V O L U M E 6 6 , N U M B E R 5

Calendar

March/April 2014 3

Officers President: Walter Hautala, Mesabi East President-Elect: Kevin Donovan, Mahtomedi NSBA Representative: Jackie Magnuson, Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan District Directors District 1: Kathy Green, Austin District 2: Jodi Sapp, Mankato Area District 3: Linden Olson, Worthington District 4: Betsy Anderson, Hopkins District 5: Missy Lee, Columbia Heights District 6: George Kimball, White Bear Lake Area District 7: Melissa Sauser, Farmington District 8: Carla Bates, Minneapolis District 9: Karen Kirschner, Mora District 10: Michael Domin, Crosby-Ironton District 11: Tim Riordan, Virginia District 12: Ann Long Voelkner, Bemidji Area District 13: Deborah Pauly, Jordan Staff Kirk Schneidawind: Executive Director Kelly Martell: Executive Assistant John Sylvester: Deputy Executive Director Tiffany Rodning: Deputy Executive Director Greg Abbott: Director of Communications Denise Dittrich: Associate Director of Governmental Relations Denise Drill: Director of Financial/MSBAIT Services Amy Fullenkamp-Taylor: Associate Director of Management Services Sandy Gundlach: Director of School Board Services Barb Hoffman: Administrative Assistant to Governmental Relations/Finance/Meeting Coordinator Sue Honetschlager: Administrative Assistant to Management, Legal and Policy Services/MSBAIT Donn Jenson: Director of Technology Bill Kautt: Associate Director of Management Services Grace Keliher: Director of Governmental Relations Katie Klanderud: Director of Board Development Gary Lee: Associate Director of Management Services Bruce Lombard: Associate Director of Communications Bob Lowe: Director of Management Services Cathy Miller: Director of Legal and Policy Services Sue Munsterman: Administrative Assistant to Board Development/Communications Sandi Ostermann: Administrative Assistant to Association Services and Finance/Receptionist Tim Roberts: Production Room Manager The MSBA Journal (USPS 352-220) is published bimonthly by the Minnesota School Boards Association, 1900 West Jefferson Avenue, St. Peter, Minnesota 56082. Telephone 507-934-2450. Call MSBA office for subscription rates. (Opinions expressed in the Journal are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent MSBA policy.)

Quotes of Note captures some of the more interesting statements MSBA staff have read in local, state and national publications.

Closing the achievement gap

Wi-Fi on the bus

“The cost is having kids not succeed and the cost is having the achievement gap. Investment is what we’re going to do, so our kids can be successful.”

Elk River Area Superintendent Mark Bezek

“For many (students), they have academic work that they need to get done. While they are traveling between here and Lake of the Woods, they can power up their tablets with the Wi-Fi and do some homework. … Now, they can do all of their homework on these long bus trips and not have to bring all those materials. We are also going to be monitoring to make sure they are not downloading movies and stuff like that. We will restrict access and it will have the same filter that we have here in school. They will have access to all of the programs that our school has, but they won’t be able to access some of the things that we don’t want them to access. I think the biggest thing is the bus now will essentially become an extension of the classroom.”

Starting school before Labor Day

Nevis Superintendent Steve Rassier, on equipping activity bus with Wi-Fi

Bemidji Area Superintendent Jim Hess, on his district’s focus on closing the achievement gap

Technology opens doors “Today more than ever, educators need to be facilitators of the learning process. They need skills to guide today’s learners in this highly technological new age. ‘Futurcators’ embed technology and work with students and open doors for them. ‘Pastucators’ … use books and they’re turned off to technology.”

“One of the big benefits is that we have a window when we do our standardized testing. We could then have two more weeks of instruction prior to the standardized testing (in the spring). … What we do right now is we do all our learning until the holiday break. Then we come back and review and assess what we’ve covered for the entire semester. So you have that break just before you do that assessing to see what students have learned. Starting two weeks early would give a natural semester break rather than having the holiday break and then coming back for two weeks.”

Funding for all-day kindergarten “It’s something we need in the state, and I think it will help address the achievementgap issue we have. The response has been very positive. It’s hard to say this is not a good investment.” Sen. Greg Clausen, DFL-Apple Valley, a member of the Senate Education Committee

“When we allocate new money to schools, we shouldn’t dictate where they use that money.”

Le Sueur-Henderson Superintendent Rich Hanson

Rep. Kelby Woodard, R-Belle Plaine, a member of the House Education Finance Committee

Anti-bullying bill

Dome-seat advantage

“We came out as an organization with a voluntary bullying policy before it was required by law, and we encouraged every member of our organization to adopt it.”

“This is something every school our size will dream of having. This will be our home seating. The entire structure will be filled with Metrodome seats. Pretty neat!”

MSBA Director of Government Relations Grace Keliher

United South Central School Board Member John Feist, on his district’s purchase of 840 Metrodome seats that will be used in a permanent stadium-type seating structure at the new football field

SI traight T alk ’ ,

f you don t advocate for students who will?

During the past election in Minneapolis, it was refreshing to see that the biggest topic among City Council candidates was education. Usually in political campaigns, education is an afterthought – something a public relations writer might add to the end of a speech, simply to say “our children are the future.”

Kirk Schneidawind MSBA Executive Director

The beauty of education is that despite party lines, all legislators have a big issue in common with board members – they want their kids to succeed.

Unfortunately, the discussion about education is usually missing in most campaigns. In President Obama’s last speech, it was near the bottom of the list of issues talked about. In Congress, both No Child Left Behind and the IDEA bills await reauthorization. It had been a decade coming before even some politicians referred to a session as “The Education Session,” like they did last year. So as school board members are fresh from MSBA’s Joint Legislative Session last week, I think the message is clear about the importance of school board members not just being advocates for their students at a local level, but also being advocates at the state and federal level. One of the best things you can do is to get involved with our Association’s lobbyists: Grace Keliher and Denise Dittrich. Their focus is in financial and policy matters that help ALL of our public school districts. And you are also a valuable resource for Grace and Denise. I can’t count the times that an issue has come up in committee, and we need a board member to talk about an issue first-hand. Giving testimony at a legislative committee is probably the most effective way you can advocate on an issue. Legislators, oftentimes, would rather hear directly from YOU. Our Association can be there to give you the background and walk you through the process to make and build relationships back in your home district. It doesn’t take board members too long to find out that many issues affecting schools and students start at the Capitol. And a board member wanting to make a bigger impact on student achievement can’t simply focus on local board issues anymore. A

board member has to also get involved in advocacy at the state level. As a politician, it is overwhelming to hear the requests coming from thousands of different groups. It is also easy to concentrate on groups that have voting power – over groups representing students, who aren’t old enough to vote. So if students don’t have the same influence at the voting polls, it makes it even more important for board members to speak up for students at the state level. Because if you don’t advocate for students, who will? At MSBA, our board of directors are also trained to walk the walk with advocacy. Our executive team makes a special effort each year to reach out to congressional staff and representatives to discuss issues affecting students at a federal level. They bring information from their home districts, but also bring a powerful tool – real stories from real students about what is going on in their schools and how Congress can help. Our partner, the National School Boards Association, will also be starting a campaign to “Stand Up for Schools” by becoming an Army of Advocates at a grassroots level to push for federal education issues that are important to Minnesota school districts. It’s all part of the NSBA National Advocacy Institute – and MSBA will keep you informed through our legislative blog, Twitter feeds, Facebook and the weekly Capitol Compass. So if you can’t get out to D.C., consider an annual meeting with your congressional representatives in your district. Make it a priority to connect with your local representatives at the state level. Make sure they know you are there to help answer questions or to give them examples of how certain laws or rules are affecting students in your district. The beauty of education is that despite party lines, all legislators have a big issue in common with board members – they want their kids to succeed. Start your conversations there, and your work at the state level will more than pay off at the local level.

March/April 2014 5

President’s Column Local concerns are best addressed

by local boards In my community, I’ve always found that the closer I get to local control, the better representation and response I receive. I pay very close attention to the people I vote onto my township board, school board and county boards because these are the people who are more likely to solve a problem that comes up in my community.

Walter Hautala MSBA President

I pay very close attention to the people I vote onto my township board, school board and county boards because these are the people who are more likely to solve a problem that comes up in my community.

6 MSBA Journal

But sometimes, it seems like the state doesn’t agree. Instead of letting local cities, townships or school boards solve problems, the Legislature is often too eager to jump in and try to solve a problem in a one-size-fits-all fashion. Many times a solution is offered without input from the local entities the state is supposedly trying to help. At the federal level, No Child Left Behind comes to mind. Every school district wants every child to succeed. But prescribing tests as the sole measure of learning doesn’t work for every school or every child. What works is local flexibility to try new teaching ideas. I was lucky enough to hear about Anoka-Hennepin’s GEARS project, where teachers take students once a week and put them into ability groups to do interventions that not only help low-achieving students, but also high-achieving students. And at the Leadership Conference, it was exciting to see how schools use the arts to keep students involved in school. Schools need that flexibility to respond to student and parent needs, which may be very different from one community to the next. At the state level, I see the Minnesota Department of Education not granting three-year requests from districts running a four-day school week. Instead, the department is granting one year and pushing them to go back to a five-day week. This is after the local board and people in the community meet at least three times to review the plans. They have seen that a four-day week works for them and saves them money – without hurting student test scores.

Believe me – if parents didn’t like a fourday school week in their district, board members would be hearing about it in an instant and would be the first to make an effort to go back to five-day school weeks. That’s what happens when decisions are left to local control. It is the same local control that superintendents use to determine whether to call off school because of bad weather. One day, it’s decided for them. All the other days, superintendents made the decision just fine. School boards are elected by their communities to represent the community’s beliefs and values. Who better than these community representatives to shoulder the responsibility for preparing the children to live productive and satisfying lives? New board members are always surprised to find out how little flexibility is left for local decisions. After years and years of mandates – most not fully funded – most budget decisions are predetermined by either federal or state mandates. It seems like every two years, someone at the Legislature wants counties, cities and schools to prepare a list of mandates that are no longer needed. The local entities come up with lists numbering into the 100s. But year after year, talk of cutting mandates is considered a victory if one mandate is eliminated. At one time, Governor Dayton expected this Legislative Session to be the Un-session to eliminate costly mandates that limit local governing bodies’ ability to be efficient. And once again, I am hoping that the rest of the Legislature will really buy in to that idea and get rid of ineffective mandates. Because the more flexibility the state can give local boards, the better they can respond to student and parent needs.

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March/April 2014 7

Adrienne Butler

Monroe School

rewarded for innovation, closing achievement gap

Monroe Elementary School in Brooklyn Park has developed a formula for student success that has increased student learning and brought well-deserved recognition for progress in closing the achievement gap. The program has also earned a $10,000 grant award for innovation.

Mary Olson

8 MSBA Journal

Principal Amy Oliver and her staff received the Local Government Innovation Award (LGIA) Dec. 12 from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. The award recognizes the creative ways schools, cities and counties are making Minnesota better and doing things differently, with an eye to finding good ideas that can be replicated elsewhere.

In addition to LGIA, the school was named a Reward School by the Minnesota Department of Education again this fall, earning the designation all three years the state’s Multiple Measurement Rating (MMR) system has been in existence. Rankings are based on students’ performance on state tests. This places the school in the top 15 percent of Minnesota schools that receive federal Title I funds allocated to schools with high percentages of students living in poverty. And, the school was recognized last spring by the Minnesota Campaign For Achievement Now (MinnCAN) for being among the top 10 elementary schools in the state in closing the achievement gap between black students and white students. Monroe teachers are proud to have their work and results recognized, and thrilled to earn the $10,000 grant, but for the most part they are just happy to work among teachers who are equally passionate about helping each child succeed. “We work hard and care about our students’ learning. It’s good to see that it is paying off for the kids,” said Kathy Neitzke, fifth grade teacher. What makes Monroe unique is the GEARS program developed several years ago under the leadership of former Principal Rose Wippler to provide what teachers call a “second scoop” of instruction in the areas that students need most. GEARS is the acronym for Getting Excellent Academic Results for all Students, which is fitting for a specialty school focusing on math, science and children’s engineering. Each grade level has a 30-minute intervention period every day in which all of the grade level, special education, supplemental program, and English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers divide up the students in that particular grade based on the students’ specific needs. With the additional teachers, most groups have only five or six students so each can get a lot of attention. GEARS runs on a 10-day cycle. On the first day, teachers meet to determine student needs, set instructional goals and divide the students into groups based on their individual needs. Teachers work with their groups on clearly defined

The staff of Anoka-Hennepin’s Monroe Elementary School received a $10,000 Local Government Innovation Award for its GEARS program.

Other Innovation Winners Other schools receiving awards for innovation include: ACGC Schools for “Elementary Reimagined” ACGC operates on a four-day school week to control transportation costs. But the Mondays without school are a powerhouse for students identified as potentially benefitting from additional work in a less traditional setting, and for staff to use data and learning goals to develop uniform strategies to tailor near-term teaching to address shortfalls and to embrace successes. Every learning activity is tied to a specific learning standard. Cannon River STEM School for “Supporting the Village to Raise Children” Cannon River works with Rice County Family Services Collaborative, the Rice County Chemical Health Coalition, The Minnesota Alliance for Youth and the Rice County Mental Health Collaborative to support students and families throughout the community. The school has implemented prevention curriculum, supported parents in building parenting skills and developed models to reduce risk factors for students. Waconia Public Schools for “MLK – A Day On, Not A Day Off” All students at Waconia Public Schools partner with local, regional and international organizations to engage in service learning projects that honor the life of Martin Luther King Jr. Students research businesses to partner with them to plan and implement service projects. The year-long project culminates in a capstone service project on MLK Day. More than 10,000 people directly benefit from these projects. Hiawatha Academies for “Teacher Accountability, Performance Pay and Program Design” This network of charter schools demonstrated innovations in areas of teacher accountability, performance pay, and program design to demonstrate student results in closing the achievement gap and serve as a best practice for the larger education landscape. Hawthorne Education Center in Rochester for “Transitions to College and Career Program” Hawthorne Education Center has collaborated with Rochester Community and Technical College to provide the courses and supports that successfully transition immigrant, refugee and under-educated adult learners from Adult Basic Education to credit-bearing college programs of study. The two education institutions have shared their strengths to improve post-secondary outcomes for at-risk students. March/April 2014 9

instructional goals for the next nine days and then assess progress at the end. Then, the process starts over again for the next 10-day cycle.

Monroe School rewarded for innovation, closing achievement gap

First-grade teacher Amy Hoff was recently working with a group of first graders who were struggling with skills related to time and money. “After 10 days of the cycle, they were doing a fabulous job,” she said. Teachers say GEARS time is good for all students, for those who learn easily and need extra challenge as well as for those who are struggling. They like the fact that all students are involved in a GEARS group so no students are stigmatized by being pulled out of their class to work with a special teacher. “Every student is being challenged at their own level every day,” said Oliver. It works well for students who are learning to speak English, too. “GEARS is great,” said ESL teacher Ann Mylrea. ESL teachers are able to regroup their students also. “For example, at kindergarten, we just had a few students still working on letter recognition, one group working on comprehension and another on sight words within the context of literature. We make a conscious decision every 10 days about what skills each student needs and how we can group them most effectively. It really does seem to make a difference for them.” Students like it, too. “Sometimes they teach each other and help each other solve problems. They can also see their progress very clearly,” said Oliver. Supplemental program Teacher Penny Anderson said she is glad the school is receiving recognition for GEARS time because it helps get the word out to other schools about an effective way to help meet the needs of students. Already, a couple of other elementary schools within the district have begun programs based on GEARS time. “It doesn’t cost more money, it’s just a matter of scheduling,” said Oliver. Mary Olson is the Communications Director for Anoka-Hennepin School District. She can be reached at mary.olson@anoka-hennepin.k12.mn.us.

Kayden Thieschafer

10 MSBA Journal

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Budgeting

Strategies for School Boards

Morgan Poepping & Maia Volkmann

Jamie Skjeveland, Ed.D.

12 MSBA Journal

School boards and superintendents know that the budget process involves continuous monitoring and adjustments to be made to the school’s budget throughout the year. As the district’s leadership embarks on the arduous task of building the following year’s budget, there are often times that board members and superintendents alike are faced with mitigating a range of emotions expressed by district stakeholders. This article addresses the various reactions often observed during the budget process. When referring to the budget process, I am referring to the time of year when recommendations are being developed or decisions are being made regarding what gets reduced, what gets eliminated, what will remain status quo or even what will get added.

The least impact on kids

Sometimes school leaders say, “We will make budget reductions that will have the least impact on students.” According to this statement, when faced with a decision to eliminate a custodian or a math teacher, one would initially think that eliminating the custodian has the least impact on students. That is, until toilets malfunction, or tabletops are covered with dirt and grime or a host of other facility-related hazards accumulate, due to the lack of a custodian. Does a decision like this really qualify as the least impact on students? When the tough budget reductions need to be made, we need to invite stakeholders to brainstorm creative ideas that promote new and innovative solutions. Roseau School Board Chair Stuart McFarlane had this to say about inviting stakeholders: “One thing we have utilized over the years is allowing the public to anonymously make recommendations for things to be cut. We have forms they can print out on our website and have taken out ads in the local newspaper. The ad had an input form that could be clipped out of the newspaper, filled out and mailed or dropped off. It at least gives everyone a chance to be part of the process. You actually get a few requests that are worth looking into…” MSBA Board Director Jodi Sapp (Mankato Area) emphasizes that the budget reduction process needs to be very transparent. “The public should never be surprised by budget cuts that ‘sneak up on them.’ Keep the conversation about the financial well-being of the district at the forefront of every conversation you have with stakeholders. It’s hard to concentrate on student achievement if the finances aren’t in order.” Dr. Gary Amoroso, Executive Director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, stated, “A transparent process that involves staff, parents and the Community is important, yet once specific programs, staff, etc., are targeted for reduction or elimination, emotions can run high by those most impacted.”

Cut the same amount from each school

What about this statement? “If you cut $100,000 from the high school, then you better cut $100,000 from the elementary, also, to keep things fair.” There is no research to support this method of balancing a school district’s budget. Let’s face it: high schools and elementary schools are not the same. Why would districts view them as the same during the budget reduction process? According to Dr. Amoroso, when schools are going through a budget reduction process, “prioritization of programs and impacts of potential reductions must be taken into account.”

Finger-pointing instead of weighing merits of a cut

Another statement often heard during a budget crisis is, “Whose idea was it to cut that item from the budget anyway?” This question suggests that rather than weighing the reduction on its own merits, the originator of the idea may be subject to public ridicule, or perhaps the equivalent of having to wear a “scarlet letter.”

Some helpful strategies

School board members should consider these 10 strategies when budget reductions are imminent. 1. Try to keep the amount of the reductions under 10% of your annual budget (Nolan). 2. Solicit anonymous budget reduction ideas from the community. 3. Keep the communication transparent with stakeholders about the potential reductions. 4. Prioritize the list of reductions from what gets cut first to what gets cut last. 5. Focus on the big picture. Focus on the impact of the reduction on the entire school district. 6. Early, middle and late in the budget reduction process, provide an opportunity for stakeholders to be heard. 7. Try to avoid processes that are hostile, where people “fight” for their budgetary program. 8. Keep the focus on brainstorming solutions. 9. Contact board members from other school districts to solicit ideas of budget reductions. 10. Contact MSBA staff for suggestions on valuable resources that represent best-practice of how to make budget reductions. Jamie Skjeveland is the superintendent for Crosby-Ironton Public Schools. To send comments on this article, you can reach him at jskjeveland@ci.k12.mn.us.

Mr. McFarlane (Roseau) had this to say about escaping ridicule during a budget reduction process: “It is possible, but not very likely; especially in small and mid-sized districts, where March/April 2014 13

Budgeting Strategies For School Boards

you know all the teachers and staff, and the majority of the district residents recognize you as a board member. No matter what you cut, it will have an effect on someone and that someone or group of people will seek out board members to plead their case. If board members do not focus on the big picture and get caught up in all the lobbying going on, the stress can really get to you. It can affect your home life, because your spouse or kids will hear things from those who are disgruntled and it affects their lives. You will wake up nights thinking about the decisions that need to be made and you may even quit going to certain places and events, just to avoid the suggestions or tongue lashings that you are sure to get. If you focus on the big picture, “what is best for the entire district,” instead of focusing on each individual cut, it can make life more enjoyable. Of course, not all cuts will cause sleepless nights, but inevitably your district will have to make some that do.” Consider this example. If a district has to decide between eliminating the instrumental music program or its foreign language program, which of these options will have the least impact on students? Rather than setting the stage where advocates of each program go out and recruit as many protesters as possible to “fill the board room,” the conversation should be guided in such a way that invites and embraces solutions to problems. For example, next year the district will be balancing the budget by reducing or eliminating the instrumental music program and the foreign language program. The school district is reaching out to our valued stakeholders to solicit creative solutions that would still make these opportunities available to our students. MSBA Board Director Jodi Sapp stated, that “Public input is very important...this sometimes means you will be listening to strong advocates for a particular program/ position, but it is vital we, as board members, hear that. If we allow them to speak and then really listen to them, the budget cutting process is a little less painful for everyone.”

Filling the board room to protect our program

The budget process does not have to be a polarizing event for school districts or the communities they serve. I remember too many occasions over the past decade when I received phone calls from the public. The caller said, “What time does the board meeting begin tonight, because we plan to fill the boardroom to fight to protect our program.” Fred Nolan, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Minnesota Rural Education Association, had this to say when reflecting on his years of service as a superintendent of schools: “It is essential to provide an opportunity for those affected to have a “voice” in the discussion in a way in which they feel heard, no one says things they later regret, and the board and community hear the pain and cost of any reductions. I always scheduled a special board meeting as a public hearing one week before the regular meeting at which the vote would be taken. No votes were to be allowed. There were strict guidelines and time limits imposed. People signed up to speak and came to a podium to directly address the board. I coached every board chair to MAINTAIN DECORUM, not to allow demonstrations or even applause if it could be done. This was critical both for that night and for the healing process in the community that would have to occur after the cuts.” As school leaders, we need to help people shift their focus from “fighting” for what they believe is most important to “working in harmony” in identifying creative solutions. Occupations of the 21st century require that workers are able to work collaboratively in culturally diverse groups to develop creative solutions to problems. School Districts need to ensure that these skills are being modeled for our young people to be successful in school and the world they will live in as adults. A harmonious and collaborative budgeting process will most likely create viable solutions that will ultimately impact the quality of education that students require to be successful.

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Engagement Innovation Minneapolis-based PreciouStatus app is revolutionizing parent-teacher communication

Julie Gilbert Newrai

Parents who worry and wonder about how and what their kids are doing at school each day can worry and wonder no more.

Through the PreciouStatus (www.precioustatus.com) application, parents can receive instant real-time updates about their children during the school day in an easy-to-read format. PreciouStatus is a simple touch-screen interface for teachers that runs on any device – personal computers, tablets or smartphones.

Bruce Lombard

“A teacher can use a cellphone or other device and do PreciouStatus updates for a child or classroom in literally one second,” said Julie Gilbert Newrai, founder and CEO of PreciouStatus. Teachers’ text updates are relayed instantaneously to parents. Newrai – an internationally profiled Fortune 100 technology and business executive entrepreneur – said the program is fully customizable for each school, to the classroom and to the child.

“We partner with teachers to create a quick pick list of things that they typically are doing that would make it easier for them,” she said. “They can also type in personalized custom messages as well. Teachers built PreciuStatus for children and parents.” When a teacher hits the “send” button, a parent’s phone vibrates – notifying them of the instant update – either through an e-mail message or the app itself. “As a parent you stay up to date on basically everything that you would care about as it relates to your particular child, directly on your e-mail/smartphone,” Newrai said. “And then you literally have a digital scrapbook of their activities and pictures of them at school. If there were special school trips, you’d probably get photos from there. If your child has 16 MSBA Journal

a sore arm, you will hear how they are doing later in the day. Also, PreciouStatus eliminates the deluge of newsletters, e-mails and other time-consuming updates coming from teachers and other school administrators. It’s all in one place. Teachers, nurses and principals are thrilled to have one place where all this is happening – not to mention the cost savings involved with paper and subscriptions.” Parents can also receive updates about what their children are studying, which opens the door for parents to have a discussion about that day’s lesson(s). “You start a whole new echelon of conversation with your child when you’ve got that kind of intel,” Newrai said. “The system is very engaging for parents. We want to help parents become active participants in their children’s learning.”

Unexpected Origin Though this program is Newrai’s brainchild, it took the birth of her own child – and unfortunate circumstances for her husband – to catalyze the PreciouStatus concept. She left Best Buy in 2009 (leaving her post as the Senior Vice President in charge of Enterprise Growth and Innovation, Women’s Leadership Forum and Training/Learning). In 2010, Newrai gave birth to her first child – but then tragedy struck eight weeks later when her husband had a massive stroke,

Testimonial Newrai said PreciouStatus is already in, or in launchplanning discussions with, 27 Minnesota school districts for pilot programs. “The one that’s been going the longest is St. Cloud Area,” she said. “That’s been going very well from everyone’s perspective.” St. Cloud Area Superintendent Willie Jett said the feedback from staff and parents regarding PreciouStatus has been very positive. “(PreciouStatus) allows for ‘on demand’ communication, received via a variety of communications vehicles in use by parents,” Jett said. “We are excited about exploring PreciouStatus to reach families who do not speak English as a primary language.” Jett added that the PreciouStatus staff is very accommodating to his district’s needs. “When they ask for input, they truly use this input to enhance the product,” he said. Parents can use the PreciouStatus app for free. For schools, the price is based on how many students are using it. For small numbers, it’s completely free. For districts, the cost is nominal. In fact, according to Newrai, every discussion with school officials has them smiling about everything – including the price.

followed by several cardiac arrests. Newrai’s husband had to have brain surgery and was subsequently placed in a rehabilitation center at the University of Minnesota to relearn “how to walk and function again.” Looking to find some semblance of normalcy, Newrai eventually put her son in a high-end early child care center and went back to work. It didn’t take long for her to feel pangs of guilt. “On Day 1, I found myself worrying all day long about how they were doing… and questioning myself about whether or not I should be working,” she said. One day, she was driving down Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis and called the rehabilitation center and the day care center each twice to check on her spouse and infant son. March/April 2014 17

Engagement Innovation

“All four of my phone calls were put on hold for a long time and were ultimately disconnected,” she said. “So I pulled the car over and just said this absolutely, positively can’t be this hard. I sat back in my seat and I thought: how many other people are going through something like this on a daily basis?” It dawned on Newrai that most of the people in her immediate circle of friends also had a loved one in some kind of care facility – “whether it’s a school of any kind, early child care, hospital setting or elder care.” “Most of us have multiple people that we care deeply about (in a school or facility) but there was no great way to get updates on how they are doing,” she said. “You really just need to know that they are OK. So that was the moment that I thought there needs to be a tool that solves this problem, not just for me, but for everyone else in similar circumstances. Also, it has to help schools and care facilities become much more efficient by relying less on the telephone systems to keep loved ones up to date, and more in using a stateof-the-art technology such as PreciouStatus to keep families aware.” At that moment, Newrai canceled the rest of her day’s activities and began brainstorming the foundation of what is now PreciouStatus. Innovation teams comprised of teachers, school directors, family members, social workers and nurses worked in teams night after night with Newrai, providing input on every component of what became PreciouStatus. “Every single facet of this technology and the business model, (the innovation teams) helped build,” Newrai said. She would take input from these teams back to her software developers. The developers would build the program, then she would take the work back to the innovation teams and allow them to test the program – taking any further recommendations back to the developers to continually fine-tune the product. “Because we took the time and made that investment in those people, we’ve had the success

18 MSBA Journal

we’re having today,” she said. “We continue to add features from the users’ input, and I think that is the biggest reason for our success, listening to our customers. The users are the ones continuing to update it.” From there, she started building partnerships with companies that could also benefit from the program – and help get the word out about PreciouStatus. The School Connection For Newrai, the decision to target PreciouStatus for the public school environment was a personal one. “I have always had gratitude for my education,” she said. “Had it not been for my education – and also for my mom and dad, who were very deliberate about my education – I would never have had my career or traveled the world for my work. I grew up in a town of 80 people in the middle of South Dakota with very limited exposure to anything.” With the success PreciouStatus was having with early childhood and elder care environments, she was kept up late at night thinking about what this could do for schools. “I just wondered if this could help kids, parents and teachers,” she said. “So I finally woke up one day and said I don’t want to be asking myself about this anymore – and I certainly don’t want to ask myself about this in 10 years. Could PreciouStatus have had an impact?” Before approaching schools directly, Newrai said she needed to find a “truth-teller” – someone that had been in the public schools for most of their life – to see if PreciouStatus could have a relevant place in the school setting. Newrai eventually connected with a human resources consultant named Dennis Dahlman, who had a collective 30 years of prior experience with the Hopkins and Anoka-Hennepin public school systems. At their first meeting, Newrai showcased some of the highlights of PreciouStatus in action. Dahlman paused, sat back in his chair and then said “Julie, I think this is a game-changer for education. This will improve student learning.”

Encouraged by the meeting with Dahlman, Newrai began meeting with superintendents and PreciouStatus picked up steam from there. “Our intent is to engage the parent in a way that’s so fun and engaging and yet it’s in very small snippets so it’s easy for them to maintain and check in on, throughout the day,” Newrai said. “In effect, you are pulling the parent into the classroom. My goal and objective is to make it engaging and fun for parents’ updates.” Newrai said the main goal she has for PreciouStatus is to change the paradigm and the results in this country for education by “enabling the teachers to have a way to engage parents that is so fun and sustainable over time that children are all of a sudden now the forefront of everything, and all because of education.” “The ultimate goal is to raise the educational outcomes for every child and to have PreciouStatus be the gateway that enables that type of engagement for teachers and parents and ultimately for children,” Newrai said.

Bruce Lombard is the associate director of communications for MSBA. He can be reached at blombard@mnmsba.org. MSBA is excited to announce that it has recently endorsed PreciouStatus and is looking forward to seeing the positive educational impact it will have. More information PreciouStatus website: http://www.precioustatus.com/ PreciouStatus Blog: http://www.precioustatus.com/ blog/ Julie Gilbert Newrai’s Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/ juliegilbert Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal article: http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/blog/in_ private/2013/07/julie-gilbert-newrai-on-moving-from. html Greater MSP Business interview: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=inQfnkMrPso

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Learning Walks connect board members with district goals

For the last three years, Moorhead School District administrators and staff members have used Learning Walks to assist district schools in strengthening and reflecting on their instructional effectiveness. Learning Walk teams gather data on the implementation of district and school goals and strategies.

Lynne Kovash

22 MSBA Journal

Last spring, the Moorhead School Board participated in a Learning Walk at one of the district’s elementary schools. The goal for the School Board Learning Walk was to observe classroom learning and connect to district goals in an observable fashion. The school board members met before the Learning Walk, participated in the walk and had time to reflect at the end of the walk. This was done with administrators and board members working together as a team to focus on the district goals.

Structure of a Learning Walk When the team meets before the Learning Walk, the facilitator reviews a rubric designed to provide a place to record the “look fors” during the walk. The facilitator pairs a board member with an administrator and reviews the “Responsibilities of Learning Walk Participants.”

observation in a classroom, the team discusses and agrees upon a tally. After completing the observations, the entire team assembles in a quiet meeting place to share observations and evidence collected. The team identifies trends and wonderings. The principal uses this data for further discussion with the school leadership team.

Responsibilities of Learning Walk Participants

Learning Walks focus on school improvement

•

Think carefully about your comments and questions.

•

Remember to ask questions, but avoid making judgments or interpretations about what you see while in the classrooms and hallways.

•

Stick with the agreed-upon focus set during the pre-Learning Walk conference.

It is important to remember that Learning Walks are not an evaluation. There is no individual record of a classroom or teacher. Results are compiled without any teacher names or identifying information. The focus in monitoring is on school goals, not individuals. Learning Walks are part of the school improvement efforts and part of staff development.

•

Do not discuss other issues or discuss work unrelated to the focus (e.g., the focus is literacy; therefore, do not discuss math.)

•

Refrain from commenting about other schools/districts or your own experiences. This is the school’s time so talk only about this school.

•

The Learning Walk experience is a snapshot in time; bear in mind, you are seeing only one part of a much longer instructional arc.

A school board member and administrator visit classrooms for 8–12 minutes each to look for evidence of district goals. In this first Learning Walk, the walkers looked for evidence of posting the lesson objective and connecting with the objective orally. This observation focused on the strategy of clarity of what we want students to know. Research is clear that when the teacher and students share the same clarity on the lesson, student achievement increases. At the end of

Our district’s Learning Walks have been beneficial to school board members and staff in many ways. The walks build trust, and focus on the concept of student success as a team effort. This also provides board members with a focused look at the learning happening in our classrooms and the relation to the district and school goals. It provides an active picture of goals and strategies in action. School Board Member Cindy Fagerlie summed up the Learning Walks best: “I found it valuable to personally witness the teaching and learning process the school board hears about at our board meetings and supports in our mission and vision statements.” We look forward to continuing Learning Walks and the strong support of school board members in the process of student learning in our district. Lynne Kovash is the superintendent for Moorhead Public Schools. You can reach her at lkovash@moorhead.k12.mn.us.

March/April 2014 23

Erasing the walls of your school

Katy Laengle

Free online tools, apps can help open windows for parents, stakeholders

Josh Westphal

The ways that parents, family, and community members can stay involved with what goes on in students’ lives is changing. When a student has a strong support system made up of educators, family, friends, and community members that care about what goes on in school, they are much more likely to see success in whatever they do. It is easy to have a support system with educators in it, but how can we make sure that the people who cannot be inside the school walls have the chance to support the students? Many times we think that the only way parents, family, and friends can be involved or support students is to actually be in a school building. With busy schedules, working parents, and people in different locations, staying involved in all the great things that go on in school can be difficult. Technology helps erase the walls of the school to allow many different people to support what goes on in schools from wherever they are. It is becoming our job as educators and supporters of education to show people how they can stay involved in students’ academic lives in new ways. Think about what music was like before large-memory MP3 players became the way to store and enjoy your music. You had to carry CDs with you and, at most, have maybe 50 songs to choose from when you were on the go.

24 MSBA Journal

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Erasing the walls of your school

Today, it would almost seem odd not to have all of your music with you at all times. Before social media became the way to communicate with your friends and family, the only way to alert people about what was going on in your life was to call them or write an e-mail. In the school setting, keeping people who are important in students’ lives in touch with what is going on is free, easy, and also enjoyable for everyone! A picture is worth a thousand words. This statement may be true, but in education a teacher or school employee does not always have the time to take pictures, upload them, and post them to a class/school website. You do not always have a camera with you to capture moments at school, but it seems like it has become the norm to always have your mobile device with you. With a free online tool called Flickr™, taking, uploading, and posting pictures is easy because it is all done in one step. Flickr allows you to turn your Internet accessible mobile device into a camera that instantly uploads your pictures to a secure site that you can share with the friends and family of your students. By constantly having pictures for the family and friends of students to view, you are erasing the walls of your school! Simply by launching the Flickr app, taking a picture and hitting upload, your picture is posted to your personal Flickr site. You can choose to link your Flickr site to your class/school website, or e-mail your website URL link to the people you would like to view your pictures. Even if a family member or friend of a student cannot be in the school experiencing the great things that go on every day, they can be living those moments with them through pictures and have a conversation about it when they see each other next. People love the idea and feeling of seeing something live. It seems like more people tune into shows on TV when they are broadcast live than if they were prerecorded. Why don’t we give the family and friends of our students that same thing when it comes to what goes on in our classroom or school? USTREAM is a free and easy way to erase the walls of your school! Anyone can turn a computer, tablet, smartphone or anything with an Internet connection and a camera into a live video streaming tool. You can even download the USTREAM app on a 3G or 4G-enabled device, making live streaming of your event possible from anywhere, not only inside the walls of the school. By live streaming events at your school or in your classroom on Utream, you give the people who are important to your students the opportunity to directly be a part of that event. If you had something going on during the school day that family members 26 MSBA Journal

or friends of your students could not attend, you could just send them a link to your USTREAM live broadcast and tell them what time to tune in. They have the ability to watch it from their computer, smartphone, tablet, or anything that has an Internet connection. Bringing people together to experience an event that they may not have been able to attend because of work, distance, or time is fast, easy and free with USTREAM. Next time you are out, take a look at what most people are doing. Many people are on their smartphones or tablets. Many school or classroom websites are not designed to be viewed from these devices. Creating an app for your school or classroom erases the walls of your school by making information more accessible from anywhere. It seems like there is an app for everything, and this is becoming the way people get information. Theappbuilder.com™ allows you to make a full functioning app that you can distribute through a Web link in a matter of minutes. Theappbuilder.com is free and easy for anyone to use. You even have the ability to even link things like YouTube™, USTREAM, Flickr, Facebook®, websites, and more through theappbuilder.com’s easy-to-use templates. You have the ability to customize many different aspects or keep your app simple. By keeping

Brody Fournier

important information easily accessible to your students’ family and friends, it allows them to stay in touch more with what is going on in the school or classroom. Right now the people who are the most important in our students’ lives are missing out on the opportunity to be a part of their school lives when they cannot physically be there. Through pictures and video hosted by Flickr and USTREAM, we are giving those people the opportunity to share an experience they could not get unless they were actually in the school. Flickr and USTREAM are also easy to use for teachers or education employees, so it does not put extra strain on their day. Building an app using theappbuilder.com allows the important people in our students’ lives to have important school information with them all the time. Erasing the walls of your school has never been easier. We cannot wait for people to ask us to bring them closer to what is going on in our schools and classrooms – we need to bring it to them. Josh Westphal is a teacher in the Pine Island School District. He can be reached at jwestphal@pineisland.k12.mn.us. Links Flickr: www.flickr.com USTREAM: www.ustream.tv

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March/April 2014 27

VISION,

MINDSET,

GRIT!

93rd ANNUAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE SCRAPBOOK Left: The MSBA 2014 All State School Board members are: (sitting) Tom Grundman of Osakis, Patsy Green of Robbinsdale, Nadine Schnettler of ROCORI; (standing) Alan Ziethamer of Alexandria, Robert Olson of Mesabi East, Robert Shuey of Pine City, and Ron Evenson of Houston.

Right: More than 1,500 people hit the Exhibit Hall between sessions to listen to local school vendors.

28 MSBA Journal

Left: The Round Table sessions Thursday afternoon and Friday morning drew a crowd – most with two rings of chairs around the table to get important information condensed into a 20-minute presentation.

Scott Burrows

Above: MSBA’s new Executive Director Kirk Schneidawind opened the 2014 Leadership Conference.

Above: The Washington Technology Magnet Secondary School’s NJROTC Color Guard helped to open the Leadership Conference General Session.

William Kent Krueger

Above: Minneapolis students were part of many school groups participating in MSBA’s Show & Tell session, where board members can hear about successful school projects from across the state. March/April 2014 29

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March/April 2014 31

MSBA’s Vendor Directory

MSBA’s Vendor Directory helps connect school districts with the products and services they need. The directory is always at your fingertips. You’ll find it printed in the back of every Journal magazine as well as on the MSBA Website at www.mnmsba.org. Most listings in the Web version of this directory include a link so you can head instantly to a Website or e-mail address. The directory includes everything you need to know to contact a company quickly—phone numbers, fax numbers and addresses— in an easy-to-read format. If you have a service or product you would like included in this directory, please contact Sue Munsterman at 507-934-2450 or smunsterman@mnmsba.org. Architects/Engineers/Facility Planners Architects Rego + Youngquist, inc. (Paul Youngquist) 7601 Wayzata Blvd., Ste. #200 St. Louis Park, MN 55426 952-544-8941, Fax 952-544-0585 www.aryarch.com pyoungquist@aryarch.com ATS&R Planners/Architects/Engineers (Paul Erickson) 8501 Golden Valley Road, Suite 300 Minneapolis, MN 55427 763-545-3731, Fax 763-525-3289 www.atsr.com perickson@atsr.com Clark Engineering Corporation (Douglas Fell) 621 Lilac Drive North Minneapolis, MN 55422 763-545-9196, Fax 763-541-0056 www.clark-eng.com dfell@clark-eng.com Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc. (Judith Hoskens) 201 Main Street SE Suite 325 Minneapolis, MN 55414 612-379-3400, Fax 612-379-4400 www.cuningham.com jhoskens@cuningham.com DLR Group (Christopher Gibbs) 520 Nicollet Mall, Suite 200 Minneapolis, MN 55402 612-977-3500, Fax 612-977-3600 www.dlrgroup.com cgibbs@dlrgroup.com GLTArchitects (Evan Larson) 808 Courthouse Square St. Cloud, MN 56303 320-252-3740, Fax 320-255-0683 www.gltarchitects.com elarson@gltarchitects.com Hallberg Engineering, Inc. (Richard Lucio) 1750 Commerce Court White Bear Lake, MN 55110 651-748-1100, Fax 651-748-9370 www.hallbergengineering.com rlucio@hallbergengineering.com ICS Consulting, Inc. (Pat Overom) 5354 Edgewood Drive Mounds View, MN 55112 763-354-2670, Fax 763-780-2866 www.ics-consult.com pato@ics-consult.com

32 MSBA Journal

Kodet Architectural Group, Ltd. (Edward Kodet) 15 Groveland Terrace Minneapolis, MN 55403 612-377-2737, Fax 612-377-1331 www.kodet.com arch@kodet.com

Wold Architects and Engineers (Vaughn Dierks) 305 St. Peter Street St. Paul, MN 55102 651-227-7773, Fax 651-223-5646 www.woldae.com mail@woldae.com

MSBA Playground Compliance Program (in partnership with National Playground Compliance Group, LLC) (Tim Mahoney) PO Box 506 Carlisle, IA 50047 866-345-6774, Fax 515-989-0344 http://nssi-usa.com tim@playgroundcompliance.com

Athletic Sports Floors/Surfacing Fisher Tracks, Inc. (Jordan Fisher) 1192 235th Street Boone, IA 50036 515-432-3191, Fax 515-432-3193 www.fishertracks.com jfisher@fishertracks.com

Nexus Solutions (Mike David) 11188 Zealand Avenue North Champlin, MN 55316 612-747-1003, Fax 763-201-8410 www.nexussolutions.com mdavid@nexussolutions.com Paulsen Architects now part of I&S Group (Bryan Paulsen) 115 East Hickory Street, Suite 300 Mankato, MN 56001 507-387-6651, Fax 507-387-3581 www.is-grp.com bryan.paulsen@is-grp.com TSP Architects and Engineers (Troy Miller) 18707 Old Excelsior Blvd. Minnetonka, MN 55345 952-474-3291, Fax 952-474-3928 www.teamtsp.com millertw@teamtsp.com Wendel (Jim Wilson) 111 Washington Avenue North; Suite 300 Minneapolis, MN 55401 612-332-1401, Fax 612-332-1405 www.wendelcompanies.com jwilson@wendelcompanies.com Widseth Smith Nolting (Kevin Donnay) 7804 Industrial Park Road Baxter, MN 56425 218-316-3618, Fax 218-829-2517 www.widsethsmithnolting.com kevin.donnay@wsn.us.com

Midwest Tennis & Track (Brian Launderville) 22 South Main Street Denison, IA 51442 712-263-3554, Fax 712-263-5110 www.midwesttennisandtrack.com brian@midwesttennisandtrack.com MSBA Playground Compliance Program (in partnership with National Playground Compliance Group, LLC) (Tim Mahoney) PO Box 506 Carlisle, IA 50047 866-345-6774, Fax 515-989-0344 http://nssi-usa.com tim@playgroundcompliance.com Attorneys Booth & Lavorato LLC (Laura Tubbs Booth) 10520 Wayzata Blvd., Suite 200 Minnetonka, MN 55305 763-253-4155, Fax 763-253-4160 www.boothlavoratolaw.com ltbooth@boothlavoratolaw.com Kennedy & Graven, Chartered (Neil Simmons) 470 U.S. Bank Plaza, 200 S. 6th St. Minneapolis, MN 55402 612-337-9300, Fax 612-337-9310 www.kennedy-graven.com contactus@kennedy-graven.com Knutson, Flynn & Deans (Thomas S. Deans) 1155 Centre Pointe Drive, Suite 10 Mendota Heights, MN 55120 651-222-2811, Fax 651-225-0600 www.kfdmn.com tdeans@kfdmn.com

Pemberton Law (Mike Rengel) 110 N. Mill Street Fergus Falls, MN 56537 218-736-5493, Fax 218-736-3950 www.pemlaw.com m.rengel@pemlaw.com Ratwik, Roszak & Maloney, P.A. (Joseph J. Langel) 730 2nd Ave S., Ste. 300 Minneapolis, MN 55402 612-339-0060, Fax 612-339-0038 www.ratwiklaw.com postmaster@ratwiklaw.com Construction Management & Consulting Services ICS Consulting, Inc. (Pat Overom) 5354 Edgewood Drive Mounds View, MN 55112 763-354-2670, Fax 763-780-2866 www.ics-consult.com pato@ics-consult.com Kraus-Anderson Construction Company (John Huenink) 8625 Rendova Street NE Circle Pines, MN 55014 763-792-3616, Fax 763-786-2650 www.krausanderson.com john.huenink@krausanderson.com Metz Construction Management & Consulting, Inc. (Deb Metz) 20759 Eastway Road Richmond, MN 56368 612-236-8665 www.metzmanagement.com deb@metzmanagement.com MSBA Playground Compliance Program (in partnership with National Playground Compliance Group, LLC) (Tim Mahoney) PO Box 506 Carlisle, IA 50047 866-345-6774, Fax 515-989-0344 http://nssi-usa.com tim@playgroundcompliance.com Stahl Construction (Josh Schultz) 5755 Wayzata Blvd. St. Louis Park, MN 55416 952-931-9300, Fax 952-931-9941 www.stahlconstruction.com jschultz@stahlconstruction.com Educational Programs/Services Minnesota State Academies for the Deaf and Blind (Brad Harper) 615 Olof Hanson Drive Faribault, MN 55021 507-384-6602, Fax 507-332-5528 www.msa.state.mn.us brad.harper@msa.state.mn.us

The Minnesota Service Cooperatives (Jeremy Kovash) 1001 East Mount Faith Avenue Fergus Falls, MN 56537 218-739-3273, Fax 218-739-2459 www.lcsc.org jkovash@lcsc.org Electrical Engineers/AV Systems Widseth Smith Nolting (Kevin Donnay) 7804 Industrial Park Road Baxter, MN 56425 218-316-3618, Fax 218-829-2517 www.widsethsmithnolting.com kevin.donnay@wsn.us.com Energy Solutions Johnson Controls, Inc. (Lyle C. Schumann) 2605 Fernbrook Lane N. Plymouth, MN 55447 763-585-5148, Fax 763-566-2208 www.johnsoncontrols.com lyle.c.schumann@jci.com Facilities Maintenance & Supplies Clark Engineering Corporation (Douglas Fell) 621 Lilac Drive North Minneapolis, MN 55422 763-545-9196, Fax 763-541-0056 www.clark-eng.com dfell@clark-eng.com Financial Management Ehlers (Joel Sutter) 3060 Centre Pointe Drive Roseville, MN 55113 651-697-8514, Fax 651-697-8555 www.ehlers-inc.com jsutter@ehlers-inc.com Eide Bailly LLP (Ross Manson) Fargo, ND; Minneapolis, Mankato, MN 855-220-8634, Fax 507-386-6268 www.eidebailly.com nationaltaxoffice@eidebailly.com MSBA-Sponsored Administration and Compliance Service (A&C Service) Administration and Compliance Service (Paige McNeal, Educators Benefit Consultants, LLC) 888-507-6053 or 763-552-6053 Fax 763-552-6055 www.ebcsolutions.com paige@ebcsolutions.com MSBA-Sponsored MNTAAB (Minnesota Tax and Aid Anticipation Borrowing)Program MNTAAB (Patty Heminover, Springsted, Inc.) 800-236-3033 or 651-223-3058 Fax 651-268-5058 www.springsted.com pheminover@springsted.com MSBA-Sponsored P-Card (Procurement Card) Program P-Card Program 800-891-7910 or 314-878-5000 Fax 314-878-5333 www.powercardpfm.com

MSBA-Sponsored SchoolFinances.com SchoolFinances.com (Jim Sheehan, Ann Thomas) Sheehan: 952-435-0990 Thomas: 952-435-0955 www.schoolfinances.com jim@schoolfinances.com ann@schoolfinances.com MSBA-Sponsored PaySchools-Data Business Systems (Andy Eckles) 17011 Lincoln Ave Parker, CO 80134 303-779-6573; 855-210-8232 X 130 Fax 720-208-9852 www.payschools.com www.databusys.com andy.eckles@databusys.com PFM Asset Management, LLC MSDLAF+ (Donn Hanson) 45 South 7th Street, Suite 2800 Minneapolis, MN 55402 612-371-3720, Fax 612-338-7264 www.msdlaf.org hansond@pfm.com Fire & Security Arvig 888-992-7844 www.arvig.com answers@arvig.com Fitness Equipment 2nd Wind Exercise Equipment (Shon Hartman) 7585 Equitable Drive Eden Prairie, MN 55344 952-240-4512, Fax 952-544-5053 www.2ndwindexercise.com shartman@2ndwindexercise.com Floor Coverings Hiller Commercial Floors (Dave Bahr) 2909 S. Broadway Rochester, MN 55904 507-254-6858 or 888-724-1766 Fax 507-288-8877 www.hillercarpet.com dbahr@hillercarpet.com Food Service Products & Services Taher, Inc. (Erin Hove) 5570 Smetana Dr. Minnetonka, MN 55343 952-345-2891, Fax 952-945-0444 www.taher.com e.hove@taher.com Health Insurance PreferredOne (Mike Thielen) 6105 Golden Hills Drive Golden Valley, MN 55416 763-847-3549, Fax 763-847-4010 www.PreferredOne.com mike.thielen@preferredone.com

Indoor Air Quality Minnesota Department of Health Indoor Air Unit (John Olson) P.O. Box 64975 St. Paul, MN 55164-0975 651-201-4614, Fax 651- 201-4606 www.health.state.mn.us/ schoolenvironments john.d.olson@state.mn.us

Software Systems PaySchools-Data Business Systems (Andy Eckles) 17011 Lincoln Ave Parker, CO 80134 303-779-6573; 855-210-8232 X 130 Fax 720-208-9852 www.payschools.com www.databusys.com andy.eckles@databusys.com

Insurance Bullis Insurance Agency - Assured Risk Protection (Marc Bullis) 407 East Lake Street #201 Wayzata, MN 55391 (952) 449-0089 mbullis@bullisagency.com

Technology PaySchools-Data Business Systems (Andy Eckles) 17011 Lincoln Ave Parker, CO 80134 303-779-6573; 855-210-8232 X 130 Fax 720-208-9852 www.payschools.com www.databusys.com andy.eckles@databusys.com

Minnesota School Boards Association Insurance Trust (MSBAIT) (Denise Drill, Gary Lee, John Sylvester, Amy Fullenkamp-Taylor) 1900 West Jefferson Avenue St. Peter, MN 56082-3015 800-324-4459, Fax 507-931-1515 www.msbait.org ddrill@mnmsba.org glee@mnmsba.org jsylvester@mnmsba.org ataylor@mnmsba.org Playgrounds MSBA Playground Compliance Program (in partnership with National Playground Compliance Group, LLC) (Tim Mahoney) PO Box 506 Carlisle, IA 50047 866-345-6774, Fax 515-989-0344 http://nssi-usa.com tim@playgroundcompliance.com Roofing Four Seasons Energy Efficient Roofing, Inc. (Darrell Schaapveld) 1410 Quant Ave. N. Marine on St. Croix, MN 55047 651-433-2443, Fax 651-433-2834 www.fseer.com darrell@fseer.com North Central Insulation (Brett Geboy) PO Box 91 Eau Claire, WI 54702 715-210-4307, Fax 715-835-8830 brett@NorthCentralInsulation.com Security/Communication Systems Arvig 888-992-7844 www.arvig.com answers@arvig.com

Transportation American Bus Sales, LLC (Eric Edwards) 12802 N. 103rd E. Ave. Collinsville, OK 74021 866-574-9970, Fax 918-205-5009 www.americanbussales.net eedwards@americanbussales.net Hoglund Bus Co., Inc. (Jason Anderson) 116 E. Oakwood Dr., PO Box 249 Monticello, MN 55362 800-866-3105, Fax 763-295-4992 www.hoglundbus.com salesmanager@hoglundbus.com Minnesota School Bus Operators Association (Shelly Jonas) 10606 Hemlock St. NW Annandale, MN 55302 320-274-8313, Fax 320-274-8027 www.msboa.com shellyj@msboa.com North Central Bus & Equipment (Sandy Kiehm) 2629 Clearwater Road St. Cloud, MN 56301 320-257-1209, Fax 320-252-3561 www.northcentralinc.com sandyk@northcentralinc.com Telin Transportation Group (Jamie Romfo) 14990 Industry Ave Becker, MN 55308 866-287-7278 or 763-262-3328, Fax 763-262-3332 www.telingroup.com jromfo@telingroup.com Wireless Communications Arvig 888-992-7844 www.arvig.com answers@arvig.com

March/April 2014 33

Advertisers Architects Rego + Youngquist Inc.................................... Page 11 ATS&R Planners/Architects/Engineers.......................... Page 19 Booth & Lavorato LLC...................................................... Page 30 Hiller Commercial Floors................................................. Page 20 Kennedy & Graven, Chartered .......................................... Page 7 Knutson, Flynn & Deans, P.A............................................ Page 27 Metz Construction Management & Consulting, Inc....... Page 15 Minnesota Department of Health – Indoor Air Unit..... Page 25 MSBA Board Member Training Programs....................... Page 15 MSBA Customized Training Programs............................. Page 11 MSBAIT.............................................................................. Page 36 MSDLAF+............................................................................. Page 7 National School Boards Association................................. Page 21 Nexus Solutions................................................................. Page 20 North Central Insulation................................................... Page 30 PreferredOne....................................................................... Page 2 Ratwik, Roszak & Maloney, P.A. ...................................... Page 31 Rupp, Anderson, Squires & Waldspurger, P.A................. Page 34 Telin Transportation Group.............................................. Page 27 Widseth Smith Nolting...................................................... Page 21

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Ask MSBA

p Some common questions about Unrequested Leave of Absence

Q. What statutes govern unrequested leave of absence (ULA)? A. M.S. 122A.40 addresses the placement of teachers on unrequested leave of absence for all school districts, except those of cities of the first class (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, and Rochester) which are governed by M.S. 122A.41.

Bill Kautt, Associate Director of Management Services

M.S. 122A.40, Subd. 10. permits the school district and the exclusive representative to “negotiate a plan providing for unrequested leave of absence without pay or fringe benefits for as many teachers as may be necessary because of discontinuance of position, lack of pupils, financial limitations, or merger of classes caused by the consolidation of districts.” If the two parties are unable to negotiate such a plan, the parties are governed by Subd. 11. In negotiating a plan, the parties must not include provisions which would result in the exercise of seniority by a teacher holding a provisional license, other than a vocational education license, over a licensed teacher. Q. What is the difference between probationary and tenured teachers regarding ULA? A. Probationary teachers have no statutory right to ULA. MSBA recommends that school districts not negotiate away the right to non-renew such teachers. In fact, unless the school district has negotiated language to the contrary, the school district is required to realign its teachers to non-renew probationary teachers before placing a tenured teacher on ULA. Also, unless the Master Agreement between the teachers and the school district provides otherwise, the school district must realign positions to accommodate the seniority rights of less senior tenured teachers. When placing tenured teachers on ULA, the school district must first pass a resolution proposing placement of the teacher on ULA and advising him/her of his/her right to request a hearing on the proposed placement. The teacher has 14 days to request a hearing in writing. If no hearing is requested, the

school board should pass a resolution placing the teacher on ULA as a result of acquiescence. Although, the statute states the school board may conduct the hearing with the chair presiding, a Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling suggested that retired judges, state hearing examiners, and arbitrators are among those qualified to serve as the hearing examiner. Subsequent rulings have stated that where there has not been an independent showing of bias or lack of skill, a local lawyer is qualified to serve as a hearing officer. ULA hearings are public and the school board is required to provide a court reporter to record all testimony and to receive exhibits. Essentially, the school district must establish two elements: 1. It has met the grounds mentioned in the statute for placing a teacher on ULA (i.e. discontinuance of position, lack of pupils, financial limitations, or merger of classes caused by consolidation of districts); and 2. The appropriate teachers have been proposed for placement on ULA. After the hearing, the school board must render its written decision to either place the teacher on ULA or dismiss the proceedings and serve the teacher with notice of that decision. If the school board determines to place the teacher on ULA, it must adopt the findings of fact based upon the competent evidence and pass a resolution placing the teacher on ULA. Q. By what dates do the non-renewal of probationary teachers and the placement of tenured teachers on ULA have to take place? A. Lacking a different date in the teachers’ Master Agreement, both the non-renewal of probationary teachers and the placement of tenured teachers on ULA must be completed and served upon the teacher prior to July 1. MSBA recommends that the decisions of the school board be served personally on the teacher but NOT while the teacher is in the classroom in front of students. Q. What resources are available to assist school districts while going through this process? A. School districts should refer to Chapter 13, Law Bulletin N, of the MSBA Service Manual, and to articles in the Management Services Newsletter for information on this subject. Also, because questions are often specific to the school district, members should not hesitate to call the Management Services Team staff with these questions while completing the different steps of the process. March/April 2014 35

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