Action of the School Board Action of the School Board 11/24/14 | Page 6

that worked on the recommendation regarding kindness messages specified in recommendation five. The group observed that pro-violence messages abound, often as the result of
outside media. The subcommittee determined that encouraging kindness would counter
those negative messages.
Parent Involvement Coordinator Linda Rodgers noted that this recommendation ties directly into the district’s core value of compassion: “to show empathy, generosity, kindness
patience and sensitivity” as well as the district’s guiding principles regarding bullying and
harassment.
A group of community members would identify appropriate messages and stories about
kindness and share them in a variety of ways such as Facebook, “kindness buckets” with
positive messages available in schools, posters, contests and more.
These two recommendations will be brought back to the board for action Dec. 8. Action
steps for the three remaining recommendations will be brought to the board, one each, in
January, February and April.
The complete presentation is available for download.

Bridge to College Plan presented

Last year, the School Board heard a plan to start Bridge to College, a program at Anoka
High School to help students in the “academic middle” with the necessary academic foundation and support to benefit from college credit-earning classes in high school.
The program began this year, and provides students in ninth grade with a foundational
math course to help students gain the skills needed to take more rigorous courses as upper
classmen. The plan next year is to offer a similarly styled English course.
When the board heard the original plan, the idea was to expand Bridge to College to the
other four traditional high schools. However, Jeff McGonigal, the associate superintendent
for high school education, said the plan would need to be delayed a year in order to get
data from the assessments of students participating in Bridge to College this year.

Board correspondence and communication
Meeting dedicated to Dr. Scott Wenzel

At the close of the public portion of the School Board meeting, Chair Tom Heidemann
presented a motion to dedicate the meeting to the life and contributions of the late Dr. Scott
Wenzel.

Consent agenda
Nov. 12 work session

The School Board approved:

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ACTION

a. Minutes of the Oct. 27, 2014 School Board meeting.
b. Retirements, resignations, terminations, layoffs and recalls, leaves and modified
leaves of absence, appointments, extra service agreements, curriculum writing.
c. Policy updates.
d. Joint Powers Agreement with Anoka Ramsey Community College and Secondary
Technical Education Program (STEP).
e. Snack and beverage vending services 15003P.
f. Immunization exclusions.

Nov. 24 regular meeting

The School Board approved: