Roseville School Board Bulletin

The Roseville Area School Board is meeting this week on Thursday, September 25.

Here's a summary of what will be discussed and how to participate:

Community Input

6:00 p.m.

If you want to provide any feedback or share something with the school board, come to the community input session at 6:00 p.m. You must sign up by 3:00 p.m. the day of the meeting by filling out an online sign-up form or contacting the superintendent's office in person, by email, or by phone: 651-628-6452.

The Community Input session is not livestreamed or posted online to watch later.

Everything you need to know about the Roseville Area School Board

How the school board works and how to get involved

The Roseville ReaderNaomi Krueger

Regular School Board Meeting

6:30 p.m.
See full agenda here.

At the beginning of the meeting, the school board will recognize and celebrate the 2025 Minnesota Psychology Teacher of the Year, Sara Mortel.

Mortel is an AP Psychology teacher in her 21st year at Roseville Area High School. Mortel was named the 2025 Minnesota Psychology Teacher of the Year at the May 2024 annual Minnesota Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (MNTOPSS) conference.

Learn more about Mortel in this interview in the RAHS student newspaper The Ville from November 2024:

Teacher Feature: Ms. Mortel

Ms. Mortel has been teaching for 21 total years with this year being her 20th year at RAHS along with her one year at Centennial. She teaches on-level and AP psychology, interpersonal connections, and sociology (CIS, Intro, race/class/gender and crime). As part of a teacher feature she answered some questions for The Ville. Q: Have you always been passionate about the subjects you teach? A: “Yes they are my favorite subjects to teach, always have been. What I love about them is that we’re really just putting academic vocabulary to things that we’ve already lived through and experienced, it’s always been my passion. I always joke around because I have to have a social studies license to teach it but I’m not super good at remembering historical facts, so sometimes I have to teach history or geography and it is a struggle because psych and sociology is what I really focused on in my undergraduate it’s what I know but it’s not always something that fills my whole schedule.” Q: Have you always wanted to be in the careers you ended up in/what led you to it? A: “I always wanted to be a teacher, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to be. Both my parents were teachers and I used to take old grade books and give grades and make seating charts. It was great. I stumbled into my other jobs because as a divorced single mom this (teaching) isn’t enough to cover all the expenses that come along with trying to pay for 2 teenage boys. The other 2 came out of necessity which I discovered have become a passion of mine.” Q: What jobs do you work? A: “I teach full time. I also do an online evaluator job through a company called Teaching Channel. So when teachers get their relicense every few years, and when teachers want to move up in the pay scale, you have to take graduate classes so I evaluate their work for those graduate courses. It’s convenient; I can do it through my computer. I evaluate six different courses and the courses I evaluate are all connected to teaching. What I love about it is when I read their coursework or papers I get to be reenergized about the things I do. One of the courses I evaluate is about building relationships in classrooms so I get a lot of really good ideas from teachers about what they’re doing in their classrooms and it kind of serves as a refresher all the time to do things in my classroom that we know are going to be best for kids and teachers and just to create the best kind of classroom. I also have my mortgage license so with that I process mortgage loans and with that I have access to a whole bunch of different banks and a lot of times when people buy a house they go through the bank but sometimes you can find a better deal if you shop around different banks. It’s another way I can help people and I have found that is turning out to be a passion of mine, to help people find a home that can help generate generational wealth. Both mortgage and teaching have the ability to open up ways in order to help people live a better life.” Q: What’s a fun fact about you people might not know? A: “I have two. One: my parents were one of the six families that filed the Title IX lawsuit to get girls hockey to be a sanctioned high school sport. Two: I coached a high school varsity girls hockey team when I was in college and because [girls hockey] was just starting at that time, I was one of the only female coaches, so they had me do the color announcing for the state girls hockey tournament. There’s video of me out there being an announcer on television.” Q: What are your hobbies outside of the classroom? A: “I really enjoy going for walks outside even when it’s crappy weather. I like lifting weights; that’s a new passion of mine. If I had time, and money, I love golfing. I’m terrible at it, but I enjoy it. And I really like spending time at my family’s cabin just being away from the chaos of life.” Q: How do you find a balance between work life and activities that you are interested in? A: “The key is: One you have to learn to be ok with it being ok. Some people have perfectionist tendencies and have a hard time letting it be a b+ kind of lesson or a c- kind of day, but it’s ok for [the lesson] to just be good enough. It doesn’t have to be perfect all the time because that’s a recipe for disaster. Two: you have to be really disciplined about prioritizing what’s most important to you. It’s easier to have it be when it’s for other people versus myself, so I have to be really disciplined with things that will help me be more balanced and less stressed out.”

The VilleEvelyn Woulfe

Reports and Non-Action Items

Summer Programs Presentation

A presentation about 2025 summer programming will be presented by Cyndi Arneson, executive director of community education and Niceta Thomas, executive director of student services.

Included in the presentation is a 5-minute video with clips showcasing summer activities that were a collaboration between district programs and community partners. You can watch it here.

Achievement Report

Proficiency results and trends from the 2025 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment math and reading tests will be reviewed by Jake Von De Linde, executive director of teaching and learning. The science MCAs were taken for the first time in spring 2025 and the results aren't yet available.

The presentation starts with the District's Goals:

District Goal #1: "Our graduates are prepared to achieve their goals and aspirations."

District Goal #2: "Our learners contribute to an equitable, caring society."

District Goal #3: "We are a culturally responsive, inclusive, anti-racist district."

Roseville Area Schools and Statewide Demographics:

The presentation includes bar graphs comparing RAS with MN overall in four demographic categories, and the changes over the last several school years and the 2000-2001 school year. Below are the stats for the 24-25 school year compared with the 00-01, to show the change over the past 24 years. You can view all stats in the presentation files here.

Percent of students who received educational benefits:

RAS | 24-25 = 49%
RAS | 00-01 = 15%

MN | 24-25 = 40%
MN | 00-01 = 26%

Percent of students who are multilingual learners:

RAS | 24-25 = 18%
RAS | 00-01 = 5%

MN | 24-25 = 10%
MN | 00-01 = 4%

Percent of students with an IEP (Individualized Education Program for students with disabilities)

RAS | 24-25 = 18%
RAS | 00-01 = 20%

MN | 24-25 = 19%
MN | 00-01 = 17%

Percent of Students who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or People of Color)

RAS | 24-25 = 62%
RAS | 00-01 = 20%

MN | 24-25 = 40%
MN | 00-01 = 17%

MCA Reading Proficiency:

In 2019, reading proficiency for all students in Roseville Area Schools was at 56.4%, which dropped to 53.1% in 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic-related impacts. This drop is reflected in statewide reading proficiency scores too. That number has continued to drop by a couple of percentage points each year since. In 2025 RAS reading proficiency is at 45.5%, the same as the prior year.

The presentation calls out "reading points to remember," including that Roseville Area Schools is just 4 percentage points below the whole state of Minnesota and the district is outperforming most comparable districts. "Grades 5, 6, 7, and 8 increase proficiency, and 7th grade outperformed the state," according to the presentation.

MCA Math Proficiency

In 2019, Roseville Area Schools' math proficiency was at 49.1%, which dropped to 36.7% by 2021 and has held steady every since. In 2025, 37.8% of students scored proficient in math. This trend parallels what has happened on a statewide level.

The "math points to remember" section of the presentation calls out that both grades 7 and 11 saw proficiency increases in math and Grade 7 has improved 12 percentage points over the last 3 years. Racial disparities have decreased, however "racial disparities continue to be persistently too high."

More details on reading and math proficiency by demographics, school building, grade, and compared with other school districts are available in the presentation files.

Safety and Technology Levy Update

If you live in the Roseville Area School District, you will have the chance to vote on a capital projects levy for safety and technology. At this week's meeting, Superintendent Dr. Jenny Loeck and Executive Director of Business Services Shari Thompson will review information about this levy.

The levy would provide a dedicated source of funding to update and maintain school security and ensure students and educators have access to the technology tools they need for a high quality education.

(By the way, if you live in the Mounds View School District, you'll also be voting on a capital projects levy for technology and safety. Learn more here.)

Levy 2025 Facts - Roseville Area Schools 623

Levy 2025 Facts - Roseville Area Schools 623

Roseville Area Schools

If you want to learn more and ask questions about the levy, you can attend one of the upcoming Community Information Meetings:

Tuesday, Sept. 30 | 6:30 - 7:15 p.m.
Roseville Area High School
RAHS Media Center

Monday, Oct. 6 | 6:30 - 7:15 p.m.
Aŋpétu Téča Education Center
Fairview Community Room (2nd Floor)

Minnesota School Boards Association Delegate Assembly

Mike Boguszewski, a school board director, will be presenting about the upcoming elections for the 2025-2026 Minnesota School Boards Association Delegate Assembly. Any board member may nominate a colleague or self-nominate.

Every December, Delegates discuss and vote on carious legislative resolution submitted by school boards across the state. Those that receive majority vote become the basis for MSBA staff lobbying on behalf of school board members in Minnesota.

Action Items

Preliminary Levy Approval

Just like with the city's tax levy, the school district must certify their proposed property tax levy by September 30, 2025. Then, the County will calculate taxes on individual properties and prepare the Proposed Property Tax Statements that are mailed to property owners in November.

According to the agenda document, school district levies are not discretionary. They must be authorized by Minnesota Statute or by local voter approval.

"We are continuing to work with the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and Ehlers, the district’s public financial adviser, to finalize the preliminary data. At the time of this writing, the proposed levy has yet to be finalized, specifically the Long-Term Facility Maintenance calculations. We are hopeful that this will be finalized prior to the board meeting," Shari Thompson wrote in the agenda document.

Similar to the city's preliminary budget, the school district's preliminary property tax levy approved in September sets the maximum amount calculated, but the final levy number could be lower when it is voted on in December.

City council to set preliminary 2026 budget

Multiple scenarios for a complex budget year are under consideration

The Roseville ReaderNaomi Krueger

BrightWorks Representative Assembly Member

The board needs to appoint one current school board member to serve on BrightWorks' Representative Assembly. This is a "Minnesota Service Cooperative that provides cost-effective, high-quality education services and programs to public schools/districts in the metro area and throughout the state."

Reports

Finally, the meeting will conclude with individual school board director reports and the superintendent's report. These reports usually include the formal and informal activities that each person has been involved with around the district or representing the district at various events.

How to Watch the School Board Meeting

School Board meetings are open to the public unless a closed session is part of the agenda. Meetings are held in the Fairview Room at Aŋpétu Téča Education Center (1910 County Road B West in Roseville). Meetings are usually held on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month, except July.

You can watch live on the district's Channel 18, streamed live online, or on the Roseville Area Schools YouTube Channel. A recording of the meeting will be uploaded within 7 days to the board meeting archives.

The next regular school board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 14.

Upcoming Election

Early, absentee voting has begun for Roseville Area School Board and the capital projects levy for technology. The last day to vote is on Election Day, Nov. 4.

Roseville Area School Board 2025 Candidate Guide

Who’s running for school board and what they care about

The Roseville ReaderNaomi Krueger

Levy 2025 Facts - Roseville Area Schools 623

Levy 2025 Facts - Roseville Area Schools 623

Roseville Area Schools

Note: Some Roseville residents live in the Mounds View Public Schools district. The Roseville Reader does not have the capacity to cover it, but if you are interested in that district, Mounds View School Board meeting information can be found here.