Snapshot Meeting Minutes and Action Items

Committee Purpose:

Meet District goals of community partnership in the District’s mission and to satisfy the requirements of Minnesota Statutes § 120B.11 Subd. 3: “School District Process for Reviewing Curriculum, Instruction, and Student Achievement; Striving for the World’s Best Workforce.”


Desired Outcomes and Decision Method is Consensus

  • Approve previous minutes
  • Equity conversation
  • Committee member recruitment/retention
  • Integration/Housing conversation
Agenda Item / Discussion & Action
Review and approve meeting minutes from 2.11.16 / Question on last point about half day meetings.
Plan this for next year around days when students are not in school within the week.
Calendar had been suggested in the fall. Weekend in October or November. This is around the time when work from this committee is due.
Plan August retreat to look at what committee work will be. What deeper issues does committee want to take a look at? New Superintendent will have started by then.
Remember: District has to do a few things to communicate how this committee has impacted Board decisions and work around strategic plan. Not sure if the Board has gotten the letter from the Committee.
Action items:
  • Post David Weingartner’s presentation on website and list link within minutes. (link is here:
  • Find out what the District posted last year or sent to Mn. Dept. of Education.
Minutes approved.
Equity Conversation / Equity Framework/EDIA powerpoint and document available here:
  • Equity PowerPoint:
  • MPS Equity Framework Executive Summary:
  • Committee that created this report is ongoing.
  • Mopping tables: seems like a health issue and the visuals of mopping cafeteria tables looks horrible.
  • Families & Education Partners will meet as needed. When will they not be needed? There are more options for involving parents throughout district.
  • Permission was given to use Medicine Wheel and got direction of how colors should be illustrated and sequence of how colors are situated. Document does not say this.
  • EDIA – priorities for training has not been set yet. Board sent strong directive to move forward with implementing this work.
  • Julia Freeman has been working on this since 2008 Voices for Racial Justice. This work will be organic. It will become entrenched as culture changes.
  • Big three goals:
  • Authentic and consistent engagement with families (i.e. family liaisons)
  • Partnership-inspired communication with families (i.e. no protocol on communications to families)
  • Enhanced collaboration and coordination with families (i.e. wrap around services at schools)
  • What kind of data does the district need to make more equitable outcomes? How do we know the Board and Superintendentare committed to this other than adopting this? If there is a piece here that the Board needs to lead on, this committee should send that advice to the Board.
  • This document does not tell the Board what to do. It was intended to be to advise the Superintendent on how the District should work.
  • This document does not talk about poverty, the reality of our families.
  • Indian Education reports show 1 or 2 percent increase in achievement. That’s not enough. Some of the MPS work is not having a big impact.
  • In some places, the Report aligns some of its work with 2020 Committee goals. This gives the committee opportunities to comment.
  • The committee should ask the Board to do onboarding for new members. Committee can send an annual equity letter to the Board. There might be three new Board members and a new Superintendent.
  • Challenge: rehashing Board meeting two day later here. Flip meetings: watch Board meeting at home, get content before meeting and come to meeting to have a discussion. Push Board topics a week out for the 2020 Committee.
  • There is no onboarding process for staff at the Davis Center. Things are missing sometimes because they do not exist.
  • People have not had these conversations about equity, competency at MPS for a long time.
  • High turnover within leadership and other positions. We need turnover metrics up and down the board.
  • Having a Superintendentleave every four years is a failure on the part of the community, political parties.
  • Look at physical plan of buildings and how people are respected and valued.
  • Sense that this document has not earned carrying Medicine Wheel. Intent is that District needs guidance.
Action items:
  • Suggest adding community members to Equity & Operations.
  • Suggest adding language to report that explains how using the Medicine Wheel came to be and why it is being used.
  • Do brief memo to Board asking toinstitutionalize a commitment tohave resources for staff do move this work ahead and not have to do it on top of their current work and budget to support their work.

Committee member recruitment/retention / No discussion.
Next meetings: /
  • Continue Equity discussion.
  • Members look at report and bring ideas: what kind of data MPS should be collecting and metrics that should be shared with the public related to the Equity Framework.
  • Draft letter asking Board to allocate resources to move this report forward. Nick will draft and will send to Juve, co-chairs. Ask members for feedback.
  • Ask Board to follow up with Workforce 2020 and confirm that they received the letter from the 2020 Advisory Committee, and follow up on how information the committee provided shaped and informed the District’s decisions. How/when will it be shared with the public in accordance with the Workforce 2020 Legislation.

1