January 9, 2012 at 5:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale:  Notice of the meeting was given in advance by publishing in the Dakota County Star. All proceedings hereafter shown took place while convened meeting was open to the attendance of the public.

Rationale:  To finalize settlement agreement and release with FEH, Klinger and EDA and accept terms and conditions as negotiated.

Rationale:  This is a mandatory policy. The district may choose to list more than one official as the designated coordinator for civil rights compliance.

Rationale:  This deals with employment discrimination categories protected by the Federal Government.  Changes were made in the 4^th and 5^th paragraphs.

Rationale:  This is a mandatory policy.  The second paragraph of the policy language lists the classes for students protected by law.   Additional categories may cause the policy to be viewed by courts as overly broad or unconstitutionally restrictive.   This policy includes the school district's general jurisdictional statement in paragraph three.   This statement notifies students, employees and others when school district policies, rules and regulations are in effect.   By stating it here, it does not need to be in other policies.  The statement is, however, included in a few of the policies merely for emphasis.

Rationale: 

This is a mandatory policy.  The paragraph following the four itemized services meets requirements for a policy describing notification of excessive absenteeism to the county attorney.  For notification purposes only, the district will no longer differentiate between excused or unexcused absences, nor will it base the notification on a quarterly limit, but will simply use the limit of 20 days absence per year. In paragraphs two and four, the district and county attorney may choose a limit of absences smaller than five.  They may also choose whether to include excused absences in the total count of five days absent.

• Policy 503.03, paragraph 2, sentence 2, I have changed the phrase “other than” to “including”.
• Policy 503.04, paragraph 1 (in bold italics, meaning this is explanatory information and not intended to be a part of the final adopted policy), I have added the last two sentences.
• Policy 503.04, paragraph 2 of the regular text, I have changed “Excessive absenteeism is the failure to attend school for the minimum number of days established in the school calendar by the board, with or without a reasonable cause.” to “Excessive absenteeism is the failure to attend school for the hourly equivalent of five or more days per quarter as specified by district policy.”
• Policy 503.04, paragraph 4 of the regular text, I have changed “If any student has accumulated a total of five [unexcused; excused and unexcused] absences per quarter or the hourly equivalent of five absences,” to “If any student has accumulated a total of five days of [excused and] unexcused absences per quarter or the hourly equivalent of five days of absences,”.

Rationale: 

This is a mandatory policy.  The paragraph following the four itemized services meets requirements for a policy describing notification of excessive absenteeism to the county attorney.  For notification purposes only, the district will no longer differentiate between excused or unexcused absences, nor will it base the notification on a quarterly limit, but will simply use the limit of 20 days absence per year. In paragraphs two and four, the district and county attorney may choose a limit of absences smaller than five.  They may also choose whether to include excused absences in the total count of five days absent.

• Policy 503.03, paragraph 2, sentence 2, I have changed the phrase “other than” to “including”.
• Policy 503.04, paragraph 1 (in bold italics, meaning this is explanatory information and not intended to be a part of the final adopted policy), I have added the last two sentences.
• Policy 503.04, paragraph 2 of the regular text, I have changed “Excessive absenteeism is the failure to attend school for the minimum number of days established in the school calendar by the board, with or without a reasonable cause.” to “Excessive absenteeism is the failure to attend school for the hourly equivalent of five or more days per quarter as specified by district policy.”
• Policy 503.04, paragraph 4 of the regular text, I have changed “If any student has accumulated a total of five [unexcused; excused and unexcused] absences per quarter or the hourly equivalent of five absences,” to “If any student has accumulated a total of five days of [excused and] unexcused absences per quarter or the hourly equivalent of five days of absences,”.

Rationale:  Each district must approve a recognized assessment procedure for use in item 2.c. The language has been added as needed for the assessment procedure your board approves.  Also included is a copy of the kindergarten early admission proposal.

Rationale:  To inform Board of possible 2012-2013 school calendar.

Rationale:  Adopt math curriculum aligned to state and national standards.

Rationale:  The board may go into executive session for the protection of public interest.