November 21st, 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!
During this meeting, a board member’s seat was vacated. Unfortunately, Alinasir Samatar is no longer able to attend or participate as a member of the MTCS Board of Directors. We thank him for his years of dedicated service and hard work as a community representative on the board.
The November meeting also included the approval of Policy 613 – Graduation Requirements. Recent changes to legislation brought confusion about elective credits, which temporarily affected the inclusion of Physical Education as a required course for graduation from MTCS. The approved policy restores PE as an MTCS graduation requirement. Additionally, Personal Finance will become a required credit starting in the 2025-2026 school year for current 9th-grade students. For more details, refer to the updated policy below. The changes are outlined in Section VI, under letters F, G, and H.
The board also approved school calendars for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school years. These calendars are available on our district website. One major change in the new calendars is that the first day of school will occur before Labor Day, and Yom Kippur will be observed as a school holiday. Significant thought, effort, and work went into creating these calendars.
The final major agenda item was the superintendent’s mid-year review. Unlike in previous years, this review was conducted in an open meeting instead of a closed session. Similar to teachers and licensed staff, our superintendent, Shawn Fondow, undergoes regular evaluations. The board feels that Shawn is doing excellent work and continues to lead MTCS in a positive direction. Thank you, Shawn, for all that you do for MTCS!
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.
MTS Secondary Students Attend a Hands-On Career Exploration Event
On December 3rd, 49 students from MTS Secondary grades 7-12 attended a hands-on event hosted by a trades and industry group called Construct Tomorrow. Twenty of the largest trade unions in the state participated in this event.
Students were able to drive virtual heavy equipment, practice brick and mortar skills, learn tile work, even put on safety gear and practice working at high elevations. This experiential learning opportunity is part of an ongoing effort to create a partnership between business and our schools. Our goal is to create partnerships that lead to direct employment and post secondary pathways across a variety of industries and trades.
Presentations
Hearing from our students, families and staff gives us powerful insights into our work and its impact.
National Indian Education Association Presentation:
Coya Night Pipe, the MTCS District Indigenous Education Coordinator, presented to the MTCS Board, some of what she learned and experienced at the National Indian Education Association’s Conference.
Coya met and forged connections with many people who represented tribes from all across the United States. She participated in workshops and presentations that gave her many ideas of ways to enhance and expand programming at MTCS. The purpose of the National Indian Education Association is development of comprehensive culturally grounded learning opportunities for Native students—making them a strong resource and partner in this important work.
Actions and Policies
Meeting student needs in a changing world means that MTCS updates policies and procedures.
Policy 613 – Graduation Requirements
Spotlight
The MTCS District is made up of talented, passionate people! Read about one of them here.
This month’s spotlight features one of the two newly appointed MTCS Board of Directors, Mars Robmann!
Meet Mars Robmann, teacher at MTS Secondary. Part of Mars’s interest in joining the board was because of all the recent changes in MN law surrounding curriculum in ELA. Mars wants to make sure that student and teacher voices are present in discussions of the new curriculum being adopted. “I want to make sure MTS teachers are able to maintain their autonomy and discretion when it comes to designing engaging, rigorous, culturally relevant curriculum in the ELA classroom and in other spaces.” Also, in a political climate that is increasingly hostile to LGBTQ+ people, Mars will be a strong advocate for queer students and staff at MTCS.
MTCS Enrollment
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.
- Minnesota Virtual Schools K-5: 42
- Minnesota Virtual Schools 6-12: 611
- MTS Elementary K-6: 84
- MTS Secondary 7-12: 156
- Banaadir Elementary K-5: 145
- Banaadir Academy 6-12: 128
- P.E.A.S.E. Academy 8-12: 24
- Connections Academy: 5,002Number of Students Served: 6,192
All MTCS board information, agendas, minutes, etc. are available on the MTCS.org website at: https://mtcs.org/board-of-
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