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Foley Public School District board meeting, Aug 17, 2026

1 h 16 min

Chronic absenteeism ▶ 16:55Enrollment ▶ 40:05Phones in school ▶ 18:55

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 16 min.

  1. Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened

What happened at this meeting

Foley school board reviews handbook changes, hears enrollment count of 1,840 students 16:17

  • Motions were made during the meeting to approve an item with forthcoming changes and to approve policies. 12:47
  • Staff members presented changes to sections of the handbook, including rules on personal electronic devices, student release procedures and nicotine and caffeine pouches. 18:55
  • A motion was stated to approve all of the handbook except the activities section, and members voted on it. 35:22
  • A district staff member reported enrollment of 1,840 students as of the beginning of August and gave a preliminary, unaudited fiscal year 2026 update showing general fund revenue exceeding expenditures by approximately $173,000. 40:05
Item by item (15)
  1. Opening and routine business 0:18
    • A motion was made to approve the agenda with the addition of tabletop items, and a motion was made to approve a correction to minutes from May 18th, 2026 and June 22nd, 2026. 0:55
    • A motion was made to approve the consent agenda. 1:54
    • A resolution to accept gifts included $225 worth of school supplies from the Hillman American Legion. 2:26
  2. Legal counsel discussion 2:57
    • A speaker said a small committee would work on obtaining legal counsel representatives for the district, with information to the board by January 8th. 2:57
    • The speaker said the item was for discussion only, with no action. ~2:57
  3. Online teaching assignment agreement 2:57
    • A staff member said the memorandum of understanding would let teachers with a full teaching load take on an online class, monitoring students, meeting with them and grading assignments, to give students more online class opportunities. 4:37
    • Asked about Spanish 4, staff members said the arrangement would free up the Spanish teacher and allow Spanish 4 to be brought back. 6:36
    • A motion to approve was made and seconded. 7:59
  4. Speech-language pathologist mentoring agreement 8:12
    • A motion to approve the memorandum of understanding was made and seconded. 9:43
  5. Achievement and integration plan 9:52
    • A staff member said the 2026 through 2029 plan involves a consortium of districts, including St. Paul, which is considered a racially isolated district, and that the district gets state funding for the program. 9:52
    • Asked how much the district receives, a staff member said $250,000. 11:39
    • A staff member said the plan is due next Monday and asked the board to approve it with the ability to make changes afterward; a motion to approve with the forthcoming changes was made. 12:09
  6. Policy reviews and readings 13:06
    • A motion was made to approve policies 506, 722 and 806 under the annual policy review. 13:06
    • A motion was made to approve Policy 709, Student Transportation Safety Policy, on fourth and final reading. 14:23
    • The board held a second reading of policies 208, 402, 507.5, 509, 624 and 722, and a staff member described the changes as basic. 15:17
  7. Student parent handbook presentations 16:17
    • An elementary presenter said the handbook removes a parent GPS-monitoring exception to the personal electronic device rule while keeping a medical exception, and that smartwatches are the device most often seen. 18:55
    • A second presenter said lunch and recess for 4th through 8th grade is 40 minutes this year, students are to be released directly to a parent or guardian, and the tardy policy was streamlined. 22:01
    • A presenter said nicotine and caffeine pouches will be treated the same and PSEO students in the building will be sent to the classroom of the teacher responsible for online. 27:47
  8. Item 30:48
    • Members discussed whether to approve the handbook now or wait, and a speaker said a special meeting could be held next week if needed. 33:30
    • A speaker stated the motion on the table was to approve all of the handbook except the activities section, and members voted. 35:22
  9. Staff handbook changes 35:52
    • A staff member said bus rules in the staff handbook now copy portions of Policy 709. 36:24
    • A staff member said the district is trying to limit and discourage unpaid time off, with approval starting with the employee's director or principal. 37:25
    • A motion to approve the 2026⁠-⁠27 staff handbook was made. 39:43
  10. Enrollment report 39:51
    • A staff member reported 493 students at the elementary school, 753 at the intermediate school and 594 at the high school, for a total of 1,840 students. 40:25
    • Asked about the budget impact of lower elementary enrollment, a staff member said the district figures about $10,000 a student. 41:57
    • A staff member said a revised budget would likely come in January. 42:40
  11. Preliminary fiscal year-end update 47:10
    • The staff member said revenue exceeds expenditures by approximately $173,000 and the audit is scheduled for September. 47:10
    • A staff member said preliminary, unaudited general fund revenue stands at about $26.73 million and expenditures at about $26.56 million. 48:33
  12. Superintendent evaluation 51:39
    • A speaker said the superintendent's overall performance was rated as meeting expectations in a review of communication, community engagement, finance and strategic planning. 51:53
    • The speaker said 2026⁠-⁠27 goals include strategic planning, student achievement, student opportunities and fiscal responsibility. 51:53
  13. Administrator reports 55:12
    • A staff member said 220 yards of wood chips were replaced at the elementary playground and a reach-in freezer was bought for $1,500. 57:06
    • The staff member said work will begin on wiring for field irrigation. 1:01:41
    • A staff member said the indoor air quality project is on track to be ready by the first day of school. 1:03:27
  14. Committee reports 1:05:36
    • A committee member said a team is working to restart a curriculum cycle. 1:05:57
    • A staff member said the district will implement the Stop It program, an anonymous reporting process monitored 24/7 and tied into law enforcement. 1:06:29
    • A staff member said the county should provide a cost figure to redo the ALC parking lot. 1:08:28
  15. Board comments and announcements 1:09:49
    • Patric Lewandowski said families who think they cannot afford an activity should contact the activities department, and the district will work with them. 1:10:52
    • Nathan Anderson said five Hall of Fame inductees will be recognized at the September 11th home football game and Big Truck Night is September 17th. 1:13:27
    • A speaker announced an open house September second, the first day of school September eighth and the next regular board meeting September 21st at 5:30. 1:15:23

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “Foley Public School Board Meeting August 17, 2026”