Thanks to West St. Paul Chiropractic, Zak’s Auto Service, and Dakota County for their support.
The ISD 197 School Board heard an update on math curriculum and approved increases for health and dental insurance.
K-12 Math Update
District staff gave an update on new math curriculum that’s rolling out across the district.
- Why: While the district does review and update curriculum on a regular basis, this is primarily driven by new state standards and needing a new curriculum that complies with those standards.
- When: The new standards take effect for the 2027-2028 school year, but the district needs to have things in place before then to work out the kinks and have a smooth transition.
- Elementary: Half of elementary teachers are piloting the curriculum this year. This means eager and engaged teachers can explore it and the process find the trouble spots and the places that might need additional work. It’s a curriculum that requires a lot of reading, so language support is an important resource to have in place.
- Secondary: Middle school and high school implementation has been rockier, though teachers have mostly worked through the challenges this year. One of the big shifts is this curriculum moves from teacher-led to student led, with a lot more exploration and questions. Getting students to ask questions and work through the problem as opposed to being shown how to do it is a new approach for both teachers and students.
- Pathways: This also shakes up the sequence of classes students take as they advance through math. The district tries to have multiple on- and off-ramps to different tracks, so a student can always access the accelerated track for example and isn’t locked into any one path. That has meant new classes at different levels, including a new seventh grade class and new options at the high school level.
- Screen time: Several board members raised the question of screen time and how much students are expected to be on devices. That’s something the district tries to balance, but there are no clear answers—both on how much students are using devices and what would be considered problematic.
Insurance Increases
The board unanimously approved an 8% increase to health insurance premiums and a 5% increase to dental insurance premiums.
- Who: The increases come as recommendations from the Labor-Management Committee (LMC), which includes union leadership, a school board representative, and district administration.
- Rising cost: Health insurance claims are up 15% compared to last year and dental claims are up 6%.
- Balances: Fund balances for both health and dental have been depleted due to inflation and COVID-related costs, with healthcare taking the bigger hit. The hope is these increases offset the rising costs and start to stabilize the fund.
- Shared cost: While these are increases district employees will see to their premiums, the school district will also see these increases on the portion of the premium they pay (which varies between 80-95% of the total cost).
Engage
- More: Agendas and minutes for ISD 197 School Board meetings are available online.
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