The following are Eden Prairie School Board meeting highlights from the Sept. 24 School Board meeting from the School District's Communications Department:

[Board Meeting Highlights are created by the district Communications Department to provide stakeholders with a timely overview of the Board’s business meetings. These are not official minutes. Board-approved minutes are posted online after they’re approved at the following Board meeting.]

Public Comment
Reading - Results Policy Monitoring R2.2
Treatment of Stakeholders - Operational Expectations Monitoring OE-3
Saving Taxpayers Money - Refinancing Bonds
Approval of Preliminary Levy
Oak Point Principal Retirement
Change in Board Meeting Time

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Public Comment
Five parents from the Eden Heights neighborhood spoke about their desire to have their bus stop changed. They want the buses to come into their neighborhood because they don't believe it's safe to have children picked up on Pioneer Trail. They also mentioned that they do not believe that bus drivers are always using their flashing lights and stop arm.

Reading -- Results Policy Monitoring R2.2
The Board monitored their Governing Policy around reading (R2.2). Dr. Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard, the executive director of educational services, presented a 25-page report along with a team from the Teaching and Learning Department that addresses the policy that calls for students to "apply the knowledge or skills acquired from reading to ensure a broad range of post-secondary opportunities and career choices."

Below is a shortened version of some of the assessment findings from their report on reading:

Overall, Eden Prairie students are performing at significantly higher rates than state averages.
The number of students moving from the MCA-II "meets standards" level to the "exceeding standards" level is growing.
The NWEA assessment shows that 36% of 3rd graders and 53% of 6th graders score better than 75% of students across the country.
Students in the "Black" and "Hispanic" subgroups, while reaching proficiency at both the "meets" and "exceeds standards" levels of the MCA-II, are demonstrating proficiency at a rate that is still significantly below the rate of "All" Eden Prairie students at each tested grade.
Students in the Limited English Proficiency and Special Education subgroups also struggle to demonstrate proficiency. In most cases, we believe students in these subgroups, with the appropriate learning supports, should reach grade level proficiency.
The rate at which students in the Free & Reduced Priced Lunch subgroup demonstrate proficiency is lower than the rate of "All" Eden Prairie students at each tested grade.
Students had relative success with vocabulary and word recognition. In contrast, third grade students struggled with demonstrating comprehension skills using non-fiction texts and all struggled with constructed response items which require students to create short answer responses.
The report noted the actions that will be taken to improve reading achievement results. Here’s an overview of some of those actions:

Determine the specific areas of concern based on the student achievement data and develop specific, quickly to be implemented, curriculum and instructional strategies and interventions.
Implement the Individual Learning Plan (ILP) for students in grades 4-12 who are not demonstrating proficiency in reading.
Review the Kindergarten Checklist assessment process improvements, report the 2008-09 results, and develop any additional needed process and/or content improvements.
Review our current curriculum-based assessments and determine/develop additional assessments inclusive of progress monitoring tools.
Study alignment issues between NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) with MCA-II.
Research and study best practices in measuring college reading readiness at the high school level and pilot the tool(s) in the fall of 2009.
After the Minnesota Department of Education provides information on the validity and reliability of the MTAS reading test results, professional learning in the appropriate analysis and use of the results will be developed.
To provide a more balanced approach to reading proficiency results, and assure that all children are able to demonstrate proficiency or mastery of grade level content in reading, several performance indicators beyond the limitations of both MCA-II and NWEA-MAP are needed.
Determine the specific capacity building needs prior to engaging in some of the prescribed activities (i.e. meet with stakeholder groups to determine areas of strength and weakness, create more professional learning opportunities).
The report calls for a two-year reporting cycle where this policy is monitored by the Board every other year, and on the off year, an informational report on reading is provided to the Board. The Board initially voted to amend the report so there would be an annual monitoring report on reading. The Board later removed that amendment and voted that the report is in compliance. The Board policy subcommittee with work with the administration to create understanding around how the Board will monitor every year in accordance with Board policy.

[If you'd like to see this particular monitoring report, contact communications@edenpr.org. In addition, if you'd like to see all the Board Governing Policies, go to "who we are," then "school board" on the district website, www.edenpr.org.]

Treatment of Stakeholders -- Operational Expectations Monitoring OE-3
The Board also monitored its Governing Policy around treatment of stakeholders (OE-3). Ryan Stromberg, the executive director of human resources, and Camie Melton Hanily, the director of communications, presented the report. The report shows how the district maintains organizational culture that treats all people with respect, dignity, and courtesy. The Board voted that the report is in compliance.

[If you'd like to see this particular monitoring report, contact communications@edenpr.org. In addition, if you'd like to see all the Board Governing Policies, go to "who we are," then "school board" on the district website, www.edenpr.org.]

Saving Taxpayers Money -- Refinancing Bonds
Patricia Magnuson, the executive director of business services, presented information on how the district can save taxpayers money by refinancing some bonds. The Board voted to approve this refinancing of General Obligation School Building Bonds. We’ll know how much money this move will save taxpayers once the official sale takes place.

Approval of Preliminary Levy
The Board approved the preliminary levy for taxes payable in 2009. The Board must certify the preliminary levy by the end of September then it is submitted to the county auditor and the Minnesota Department of Education. This results in a parcel-specific notice of proposed property taxes being mail to each property owner after November 11th. The final levy will be approved by the School Board in December after the truth in taxation hearing.

Oak Point Principal Retirement
The School Board took a moment to acknowledge Arnette Bell, principal at Oak Point Intermediate School, who is retiring at the end of December 2008. Arnette has been with the district for more than 38 years. She started as a first grade teacher in the school that is now the Administrative Services Center (ASC). She went on to teach several elementary grades at Prairie View and then Cahill Elementary (a school in Edina that the district used at one time). Along the way, she became an Educational Coordinator, then an associate principal at the high school, and later the middle school before opening Oak Point in 1990. The search for her replacement is underway.

Arnette thanked the Board for its support. She said that she's been very proud to support the mission and values of the district and that she's had a wonderful career. The School Board thanked her for all her great work for this district and the community.

Change in Board Meeting Time
This Board voted to move the start time of all future Board workshops and business meetings to 6 p.m. rather than 7 p.m. This is effective beginning with their next meeting.

[If you have any questions about this, or any other, Board meeting, feel free to contact the district Communications Department at communications@edenpr.org. You can also connect with our School Board members. Their contact information can be found on our district website,http://www.edenpr.org/, under "Who We Are" and "School Board."]