December 19th, 2024 Board Meeting Summary

Amazing things can happen when teachers, parents and the community work together to create educational opportunities for youth.

The MTCS Board of Directors met on Thursday, November 21, 2024, for its regular meeting. The meeting began with a presentation from Coya Night Pipe, who shared information and resources from a recent National Indian Education Conference she attended. Thank you, Coya, for taking the time to share this valuable information with us!

The MTCS Board of Directors held its December Regular Board Meeting on Thursday, December 19, 2024. The meeting primarily focused on policies, with the board voting to approve three of them. Two of these policies were updates required to align with changes in Minnesota law, while the third was a new policy adopted unanimously by the board.

Additionally, the board conducted second readings of three other policies. According to procedure, a policy must appear on the agenda three times before the board can vote on it. While this may seem excessive, this process ensures that both board members and the public have ample time to review and provide input before a policy takes effect. This approach allows policies to develop thoughtfully before being implemented by the superintendent.

One example of this careful process is the Cell Phone Policy, which the board has been working on for the past four months. During the 2024 state legislative session, it was mandated that all Minnesota school districts establish a Cell Phone Policy by March 15, 2025. The Policy Committee seized the opportunity to create a policy tailored for MTCS. Surveys were distributed to all staff and parents of students at seat-based sites, reflecting the board’s commitment to gathering feedback from staff, students, and parents before finalizing policies—especially on sensitive issues like cell phone use in schools.

The draft Cell Phone Policy, created with input from the board’s attorney, will be up for its third and potentially final reading on January 23, 2025. Before the board makes a final decision, you are invited to review the draft policy. You can access it by clicking HERE.

Other actions taken during the meeting included:

  • Approving additional advertising funds to market on Amazon Prime.
  • Designating March 11, 2025, as an asynchronous learning day for MTS Secondary school students in 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 12th grade, to accommodate ACT testing.
  • Approving a superintendent succession plan.
  • Discussing enrollment caps for all MTCS programs.
  • Revising the budget for the 2024-2025 school year.

Parent Board Seat Vacancy

The MTCS Board of Directors continues its search for a parent to join the board. Do you know of an amazing parent of one of your students who would be a great board member? Currently there is an open board seat for a parent member. Please let Peter Rand (peter.rand@emailmtcs.org) know if there is someone you think would be a great fit for joining the board and helping create bright futures for our students.

Around the District

Things to know.

Staff Innovation and Student Opportunity!

Banaadir Academy and Banaadir Elementary Social Workers, Ms. Mosenden and Ms. Weiss, worked together this school year to create a new buddy/mentorship program for their students to learn from and get to know each other. Banaadir Academy’s secondary students visit Banaadir Elementary regularly, and the older and younger students work together on various projects.

The students have gathered together three times. The first session was introductions, some getting to know each other activities, and the Banaadir Elementary students gave the Banaadir Academy students a tour of their school. In November students worked together on the aerodynamic task of making the farthest flying paper airplane. Students worked in teams and made and decorated airplanes. They went to the gym where each team took turns flying their planes—the winning plane making it more than halfway across the gym!

This month, students were split up into two groups (with mentors and mentees mixed in both groups), and given one bag of halal marshmallows and toothpicks with the goal to see who could build the tallest structure that could stand up on its own. They had a lot of fun doing it!

Their goal is to continue to get together once or twice a month for the rest of the school year. “There is so much joy in the room every time we get the students together!” Weiss said. The Banaadir Elementary students are always asking when the mentors are coming back, and it has been so amazing to see how quickly the BA students have stepped into leadership roles and how they encourage and support the younger students.

One of the most amazing aspects of this project, is the innovation and creativity of these two social workers who made it happen. They saw an opportunity to build connections between their schools, and they took the initiative and made it happen. Other schools in the MTCS District are now talking about initiating similar things. 

This is one of the unique benefits of our charter district—nimble enough to create new opportunities, and large enough to support and make them happen! MTCS supports staff initiatives that support our students.

Actions and Policies

Meeting student needs in a changing world means that MTCS updates policies and procedures. 

Spotlight

The MTCS District is made up of talented, passionate people! Read about one of them here.

This month’s spotlight features Sam Trojan, MTCS Board member since 2022!

I have worked at MTCS, specifically Banaadir Academy, since December of 2017 so almost exactly 8 years. I am a licensed ELL teacher which I did for 6 years in both middle and high school, but for the last two years, I’ve been teaching middle school science. The reason I enjoy teaching is that I have loved learning about any subject for as long as I can remember and I enjoy sharing my love of learning with the students. I also like getting to know the individual personalities of the students. I have high expectations and we work hard, but I also love to laugh with them and go on random tangents about things that might interest them. It’s not very hard to get me off of my lesson plan and discussing something interesting I read or heard about the other day! 

Finding motivation to be the best educator I can be is easy when working with such amazing students. This motivation has led me to take up initiatives in the past such as a recycling program, student leadership committee, school store, a school carnival and I’m currently coaching soccer. As I said, though necessary, school can often be boring, but I’m always motivated to provide students with a more comprehensive experience, such as the two field trips I am planning for this upcoming spring. I joined the board because I have almost exclusively worked at Banaadir Academy and wanted to make sure there was representation 

from Banaadir. Throughout my time on the board, I’ve come to realize just how important it is for our schools to work together through teacher collaboration and, though often challenging, trying to create interactive experiences between schools. Additionally, I have learned a great deal about how the district functions at the highest levels and this has provided me with profound insights into how I can be a more proactive and productive member of the MTCS community in a way that will, above all, give the students the best experience possible.

MTCS Enrollment – (As of 12/18/2024)

Growth in our schools keeps us strong and enrollment gives us a strong indicator of meeting student and family needs. These are the enrollment numbers as of the most recent board meeting.

  • Banaadir Elementary K-5: 146
  • Banaadir Academy 6-12: 134
  • Connections Academy: 5,116
  • Minnesota Virtual Schools K-5: 42
  • Minnesota Virtual Schools 6-12: 610
  • MTS Elementary K-6: 75
  • MTS Secondary 7-12: 162
  • P.E.A.S.E. Academy 8-12: 25
  • Number of Students Served: 6,310

All MTCS board information, agendas, minutes, etc. are available on the MTCS.org website at: https://mtcs.org/board-of-directors/

Thank YOU,

YOUR MTCS Board Chair