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EDC Minutes March 17, 2020 Page 4 of 6 ----------------------------- Chair Lindholm asked everyone to look out way into the future from a school district perspective and when municipalities don't like each other, don't talk to each other, don't coordinate their work, planning and zoning and the development of growth and how that creates disparities for students inside a school district. He said to imagine the day when the school district is so big there has to be a second and third elementary school and all of the poverty is sitting in one spot by geographic boundary. He stated enormous inequities for students and families will be created. He stated that municipalities need to work together for the betterment of kids as a whole and that by design everyone needs to start thinking about how to not concentrate poverty and wealth to create those disparities. Discussion ensued about the housing study and that the community needs to put more focus on housing. 7. School Update Chair Lindholm discussed that the CDC and MDH had strong recommendations to not close schools because they were the lifeblood of the economy and that when we closed schools we shut down the ability for our healthcare employees who have kids to go to work and deal with the actual problem. He stated that on Sunday morning he received the message that schools will shut down and they need to do the absolutely impossible and figure out how to address the needs of kids that do not have connectivity. Chair Lindholm talked about having food available for lunch and breakfast for all students in your school district if they so needed. He discussed having childcare available to the essential workers and that as of Wednesday morning they have childcare open of for which 19 students have already registered. He said they will have buses available to run and the ability for families to come pick up food at the two schools. Chair Lindholm stated that at the normal morning and afternoon times families come get a bag that has both the breakfast and a lunch in it but he thinks that will probably evolve to the point where they are using bus routes to bring food to families and to bring materials for students. He stated that the service providers in the nation have been phenomenal about stepping up, waiting fees, free hotspots, data access for students for that finro to three month period of time. He said they are providing families with contact information for service providers and that they have carts in classrooms with supplies for the kids to be able to connect. He stated that the next ten days they have to figure out how assign the equipment to the students, organize by bus routes and get them out the families. He said the greatest challenge here is controlling fear and students cannot learn when they are scared. He discussed public service jobs and that they need to continue to serve. He discussed the challenges the school is facing and challenges for the students. 8. Chamber Update