In attendance were all board members and the superintendent, excluding Mr. Koenig. The meeting started promptly at 5:00 with about 15 community members in attendance, the vast majority from the Early Childhood Advisory Committee.

The first and shortest order of business was to vote on the Education Support Personnel contract agreement, which was approved unanimously. It is in line with all the other contract agreements for 2025-2027. Mr. Bryant was complimentary to the negotiation team, with Ms.  Bjornstad thanking all the teams and board members involved. 

The Red Wing Early Childhood Advisory Committee was introduced and presented their findings after 6 weeks and 10+ hours of work. The committee consisted of 15 members from the community who had shown an interest in being involved with planning for the future of early childhood programming in the district. The spokespeople for the group included a doctor, two parents with pre-k children, and a community member who had had children come through the system. The group as a whole had started with meeting on what is currently available in the district, a tour of Colvill, and a presentation on school financing. Against this backdrop was the information that about 40+ percent of students entering kindergarten in our district are coming in unprepared. The school board seemed very intent and some were taking notes as the presentation progressed.

The group first discussed what they perceived as currently working in the Early Childhood programming: a qualified staff, with the county and school district coordinating well. As a committee, they honed their priorities to gaining wraparound programming (which I believe to include parent programming, transportation, health and educational opportunities located in one place). It was stressed after a question by Mr. Bryant, that there is a need for additional services that do not displace the current home providers, nor the current preschool offerings outside of the district’s current offerings. The group also acknowledged that there are financial constraints on the district. Two board members seemed to want further proof that there was more need for space and programming. One committee member did speak to the fact that home providers are very worried about the impact of losing their older pre-k students because of the ratios needed for personnel and children, especially if a planned pre k-k program were to be free. With that being said, Head Start, which is income based, did have a waiting list, and often other programs such as ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) have waiting lists. The consensus seemed to be that there is a need for further services. Mr. Riester asked if there was collaboration across the private and public pre-k offerings, and Becky Norton spoke about the current collaborations with a wish that there would be more collaboration and better outreach and cross-training regarding such things as curriculum and behavioral programming among child care centers and home care workers. [ This was my perception]. Two of the current parent presenters were very adamant that if the programs helping their children currently were not there, they would have moved or changed districts. One parent felt that the ECFE was particularly important to building connections with other parents and friend groups. 

So basically, the following priorities were established by this group of volunteer committee members:  (again I am paraphrasing) :

1. Increase the access of early childhood education to help working and underserved families, through additional programs AND transportation. One parent had to put her 3 year old on a public transportation and it was a struggle of trust to believe they would be safe.
2. Colvill is not an ideal site for all the services needed. There is no room for an additional class room, there is no safe playground and staff have to work around the Red Wing City owned park to get outdoor time for kids. At times the park has had some activity that was not conducive to a good learning situation. Also there doesn’t seem to be a way to fit the wraparound services that the group would like to see.
3. Enhance parent education opportunities.
4. Create a program that will be sustainable financially and locationally with high quality expanded access to kindergarten readiness, and meeting needs of all children and families in the district.

The superintendent will be meeting with groups of two school board members at a time to clarify any questions or points that the committee brought. He originally thought that options would be in place for the coming school year, but now is looking at the fall of 2027. There will be more information regarding options, but his idea is to make Sunnyside pre-k- k , Burnside grades 1-3, TBMS 4-6, HS 7-12. He considered this the best use of buildings, especially by utilizing the high school space better. He would also possibly be looking at bringing a levy to a vote this November. Mr. Bryant asked the committee if they were willing to communicate to the community their feelings regarding enhanced early childhood programming and got an affirmative headshake from every one of the committee members. The May 26 school board meeting will be decision making time. The committee is invited to come back again. Mr Riester and others thanked the committee for their diligence and time.

[My final comment on this portion of the meeting is that as a retiree, it was heartening to see young parents take the time to do all the work they did to accomplish the goals they have put forth. We can’t take them for granted and need to listen to their needs if we want to continue to try to draw young families and have them stay in Red Wing.]

Next was the budget discussion and the not great news from the state level. This year there are some reserve funds that will help fill the gap for next year, but after that the district will have difficulties. Our graduating class this year is around 200, but the kindergarten numbers are down to about 140-150, which brings in much less money since the formulas are based on student numbers.

The sale of Jefferson is still in the works, hoping for closure in July or August.

Mr. Riester wanted to recognize the community members who put together the Teacher Appreciation activities.

Mr. Bryant would like the board to consider discussion on 4 day school weeks in the future.

Meeting was adjourned around 6:45. Next meeting will be May 26