At the start of the Jan. 13 meeting a steady stream of public comment focused on teacher pay and an unsettled contract. Laura Weaver, speaking for Small Wonders Preschool teachers, said the program's licensed early-childhood educators are the only district teachers not on the EML contract and asked the board to add Small Wonders staff to the district pay scale. "We're not asking for much. We're just asking for a livable wage and a fair wage," Weaver said.

Others amplified the request. Tiffany Arnivik, a 30-year Small Wonders teacher, said that if her compensation matched that of a licensed K'12 teacher she would earn about $25,570 more annually and argued for parity and professional recognition. Courtney O'Brien and other speakers repeated concerns about the program's stability and the risk of displacing long-serving staff if funding or contract status changes.

Speakers emphasized that Small Wonders teachers conduct assessments, attend IEP meetings, work closely with special-education staff and deliver multiple curricula. Lindsay Drager, a parent with a child at Small Wonders, estimated the district cost to include Small Wonders teachers on the contract at about $200,000 per year and said tenure implications limit teacher mobility within the district if preschool staff remain outside the teacher contract.

Board members and the superintendent noted that contract negotiations with Education Minnesota Lakeville (EML) are ongoing. The chair announced the board will meet in closed session Jan. 27 and mediation with the Minnesota Bureau of Mediation Services is scheduled Jan. 30. Several public commenters asked the board to settle the contract promptly to reduce uncertainty and teacher turnover.

Direct quotes and claims from the public-comment period were limited to speakers identified on the record; the district offered to follow up administratively where individual privacy concerns were raised.