Northfield Public Schools, School Board Meeting August 26, 2024
1. Call to Order – School Board Chair Claudia Gonzalez George called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
2. Agenda Approval/Table File – Agenda & table file approved unanimously (see https://northfieldschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2024.08.26-Regular-Board-MeetingPacket.pdf )
3. Public Comment – none
4. Announcements and Recognitions – a. Back to School staff appreciation breakfast this morning. Several awards for years of service and accomplishment, inspirational student speakers. Comments: Amy Goerwitz asked for a listing of those who have 30-40 years of service. Corey Butler appreciated networking during that time.
5. Items for Discussion and Reports
a. Northfield Community Education School Improvement Showcase – Director of Community Education Erin Bailey: Most of last year’s goals were met. Almost all children are now kindergarten-ready. Concerning parent satisfaction, 3 times as many parents responded to survey as last year. Partnerships with NCEC support families through food shelf, help with enrollment. Adult Basic Education, especially Spanish language drivers ed., very popular. Also discussed 3 focus areas, including expanding opportunities for parent/family volunteers. Questions – Corey Butler: What were the strategies for your increased parent responses? Ms. Bailey: Some of the increased communication is because of daily conversations with parents as they drop off children. Hand in Hand & other programs have increased channels for positive communication. Mr. Butler: Can people directly donate to NCEC food shelf? Ms. Bailey: No, all donations must go through CAC. Mr. Butler: Why the food shelf increase? Ms. Bailey: People start lining up at 12:30 or 1, it opens at 3. It serves a population that walks to building, and the community takes ownership of facility. Ben Miller: Have you had to limit the hours for the food shelf? Ms. Bailey: It has opened for more hours, but there are staffing issues with CAC. They use volunteers, but always have one paid person. Mr. Miller: What does “lots of positive contact” mean? Ms. Bailey: Teachers and staff can choose their positive contact for each class & family. Ms. Goerwitz: How are students chosen for the new voluntary pre-K? Ms. Bailey: Students with more needs, higher risk factors. Ms. Goerwitz: Why are there two different assessments for kindergarten readiness? Ms. Bailey: Teachers now must choose between 4 state assessments, next year there will be only 1. However, the new assessment will entail more cost. Ms. Goerwitz: How did you publicize Spanish drivers ed? Ms. Bailey: Through adult basic education, CAC, early childhood navigators, posters around town, social media, all in Spanish. We had to close registration when the class filled, so we are offering it again next year. Jenny Nelson: How often are pre-K assessments? Ms. Bailey: 3 times each year for most students. Ms. Nelson: Can we find out how scores compare with non-NCEC students? Hope Langston, Director of Instructional Services: Yes, scores are shared with other cohorts within the district, and day care centers so all can compare. Ms. Nelson: What was the percentage increase for parent participation survey in programs? Ms. Langston: 70 parents participated in surveys, compared with 19 the previous year, out of about 400 students total. Ms. Nelson: Who will your MTSS team be? Ms. Bailey: Herself, program leads, staff member from each program, school social worker, and school psychologist. Ms. Nelson: Are parent volunteer opportunities within the building or outside? Ms. Bailey: Within the building. Rob Hardy: How is initial contact made with early childhood navigators? Ms. Bailey: Staff at NCEC, evenings in the park, some funding from state to connect with parents. Mr. Miller: Any updates on early ventures? Ms. .Bailey: Full enrollment with wait list, 85 students. Invited Wold Architects to assess next steps for building improvement and expansion – adding bathrooms to classrooms, other places for possible expansion.
b. Bridges Math Implementation – Hope Langston & Ray Coudret, new elementary math curriculum. Began working on this curriculum during summer 2021, but COVID disrupted pilot process. Piloted Bridges and ORIGO math curricula; Bridges was selected by teacher consensus because of high quality materials. Ray Coudret: Summer work team to implement, about 500 hours, how to roll it out while doing requirements for READ Act. 8 staff members attended Bridges Leadership program over the summer, then training session for all elementary teachers. See https://northfieldschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2024.08.26-Regular-Board-MeetingPacket.pdf for details. Questions – Mr. Hardy: Is there a social-emotional learning component, with positive math identity? Mr. Coudret: Yes, it is baked into curriculum. We strive for students who look at themselves as mathematicians, a way of thinking/approaching problems, learning to productively struggle. Mr. Butler: What drove you to choose this curriculum? Mr. Coudret: In the old model, the teacher gave materials, students practice. Under this new model students practice and learn; much of it is a “games” math focus. Older students go through process of thinking, and learning how to do things. Mr. Miller: How are curricula developed? Mr. Coudret: This is has been in development for 10 years. The science of mathematics is procedural fluency – if kids are automatic with basic facts, then they can solve more complex problems. It incorporates many of the same concepts as science of reading (READ Act). Mr. Miller: Did you ask other Minnesota schools, especially considering the state’s standardized assessment? Ms. Langston: Yes, Bridges is widely used across country. Ms. Goerwitz: What about parents? Will this be confusing to them? Ms. Langston: Parental feedback was one of the components used to assess it. Homework is easy to understand because there is a worked example at the top of each page. Ms. Goerwitz: Will assessments change with new curriculum? Did the pilot classroom perform better? Ms. Langston: We want teachers to use the assessments in Bridges. K-2 will use an adaptive math test to reduce burden on teachers for this year only. Grades 4-8 will see no change. The Bridges cohort classrooms outperformed other classes in 72.3% of opportunities for response. Jeff Quinnell: Considering future years, and how difficult it is to teach math, what about the AI “copout”? Mr. Coudret: One problem with AI is that they can teach it to calculate but not to do math. The Bridges program is built around equity, finding an entry point for every student in every lesson. Ms. Langston: Because of differentiation in the system, it can include all ability levels. We have actually observed this in the classroom.
c. Superintendent’s 2024-2025 Focus Areas – for individual action at next board meeting. Six focus areas, including(1) implementing the new mathematics curriculum, (2) increasing school to work opportunities, (3) creating a district leadership institute, (4) new partnership with KYMN producing “profiles in high performance”, (5) educational campaign about bond referendum, (6) seeking feedback from parents of Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous students to improve student well being and sense of belonging. (For details see https://northfieldschools.org/wpcontent/uploads/2024.08.26-Regular-Board-Meeting-Packet.pdf ) Questions – Ms. Nelson: Question on second focus area, is that the same as MDE’s workbase program? Mr. Hillmann: There are similarities, but it has been customized. We use the MDE program as a model. Ms. Nelson: What about licensing and additional endorsement? Dr. Hillmann: We will need a person with the correct endorsement, at least one person does. We will have to determine the correct licensure. Ms. Nelson: Does the special ed teacher have that licensure? Dr. Hillmann: Yes. Ms. Nelson: On 3rd focus area, does that include developing a teacher apprenticeship program? Dr. Hillmann: This program is different from a traditional teacher apprenticeship program, which involves working with a college which prepares a student for teaching. This program has our students work with existing teachers. Mr. Miller: What is the Leadership Institute timeline, and size of cohort? Dr. Hillmann: We will develop topic areas between now and November, open applications in Dec., and start in January for 5 months. Cohort of 15 would be the ideal size. Ms. Goerwitz: This is an ambitious list, concerned for superintendent’s time. Ms. Gonzalez George: Noted that one focus area drops off in Nov. Dr. Hillmann: Some of these areas are multi-year and will return.
d. Fall 2024 Bond Referendum – Dr. Hillmann: Recently received updated figures on tax impact calculator: there have been 16 commercial requests and 169 residential requests. Agricultural properties can submit property information for a calculation of estimated tax, one property owner has done so. Recent presentations include Chamber of Commerce state of the district; presentation at 50North; high school tour on Aug. 20, with 22 people, the highest attendance yet; evenings in the park. Upcoming: another tour, another 50North presentation, Hispanic Heritage celebration, and several more scheduled events. The district will hold another public meeting mid-October, which will be a more traditional informational meeting. We would like to show a side-by-side starting at NCEC, walking across the street to Greenvale Park to compare & contrast the two buildings. Ms. Gonzalez George: The list of events is on website. Questions – Ms. Goerwitz: Was there an event today? Dr. Hillmann: Today’s event was to honor, and reground staff on how to give facts & information.
6. Consent Agenda – approved unanimously a. Minutes b. Gift Agreements c. Financial Report d. Boys Cross Country Sponsorship with Arcadia e. Personnel Items
7. Items for Individual Action a. Student Citizenship Handbook – Ms. Goerwitz thanked the administration for making changes suggested at last board meeting. Approved unanimously.
8. Items for Information – none 9. Future Meetings a. Monday, September 9, 2024, 6:00 p.m., Regular Board Meeting, Northfield DO Boardroom b. Monday, September 23, 2024, 6:00 p.m., Regular Board meeting, Northfield DO Boardroom c. Monday, October 14, 2024, 6:00 p.m., Regular Board Meeting, Northfield DO Boardroom 10. Adjournment at 7:49 p.m. By Connie Martin, Observer, League of Women Voters
