A time to speak

Welcome to a platform created to convey my opinions, facts and research as a member of the Farmington ISD 192 School Board. 

Elected in November 2022, I ran for School Board to implement policies that focus of the basics of each student’s education, to maximize teachers' instructional time and to approve fiscally responsible, transparent and accountable allocation of the budget.

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Board files and notes

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Monday Night’s Meeting of the Farmington Area School Board public comment is scheduled for 5:20pm with the business meeting slated for a 5:30pm start at Farmington City Hall. There will be a closed session immediately following the regular meeting to discuss employee negotiations. We will hear a report from administration on the Achievement and Integration (A&I) Plan. What is an A&I ? Recently, ISD 192 qualified for additional Achievement and Integration revenue based on being designated as a racially isolated district. Based on school year 2022-23 fall enrollment data, Farmington is considered a racially isolated district under Minnesota’s School Desegregation/Integration rules. A racially isolated school district is one in which district-wide enrollment of protected students is more than 20 percentage points higher than enrollment in any one of its adjoining school districts. (I think we meet this comparatively with Hastings.) For the purposes of the Achievement and Integrat
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Achievement and Integration

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  If you read the article in SunThisWeek 5/12/23, you were led to believe that ISD 192 approved the Achievement and Integration (A&I) Plan ; we didn’t. The plan was merely presented.   I’ve heard repeatedly from multiple sources on both sides of the continuum that it’s essentially free money. Sure perhaps, but I want to be sure that we are steering funds to our learners and direct instructional time , not to increase bureaucracy, racism and pay consultants that don't align with our strategic framework.  ISD 192 qualified for additional Achievement and Integration revenue based on being designated as a racially isolated district. 171 school districts  (of a total of 331) in Minnesota have A&I plans. Based on school year 2022-23 fall enrollment data, Farmington is considered a racially isolated district under Minnesota’s School Desegregation/Integration rules. A racially isolated school district is one in which district-wide enrollment of protected students is more than
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Specifically Policy 616 and Personnel

  The Farmington School Board Meeting is set for this Monday, April 24, 2023, 5pm at Farmington City Hall. Wanted to collect and share my thoughts on the agenda items.  Public Comment will be open at 5:15pm and be on any topic. Meadowview, Riverview Elementary Schools and Dodge Middle School will showcase learning projects prior to the meeting. I was quite alarmed by both the Personnel Report (on the consent agenda) and the Probationary Teacher contract non-renewals. I had a very insightful conversation with our HR Director, MaryAnn Thomas in these regards. Based on the parameters the board set in February (realigning $3 million for the 2023-24 school year), each principal is given a set number of FTE to restaff their building. Given contractual language, seniority is always awarded positions first. In addition numerous staff are employed with an Out of Field Permission from MDE that is only valid for 1-year and have to be renewed annually. Many of the terrific staff on this list of
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