001The Monday, December 8, 2025 Invergrove Heights Community Schools Board of Education meeting is called to order at 5.30 p.m. We are meeting tonight in the district office boardroom. As a reminder, all public comment during regular school board meetings must be related to an information or action item on that night's agenda. The district holds public listening sessions prior to all regular board meetings to allow participants to speak on topics that are not on the agenda. More information on public comment and public listening sessions can be found on the district's website. This meeting is being recorded access to the recording will be made available on the school district's website as quickly as possible Our school district's mission is to inspire innovate excel a community commitment Board chair Carrie Lonsbury is absent this evening or clerk Larson. Will
002you please take roll call? Of course number two Amelia here number Larson here member Clinger here number do skid number Pearson here number work here Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The next section is our approval of agenda items. Thanks Jake. I'd like to remind people that this evening is our annual truth and taxation presentation and that presentation cannot begin until 6 o'clock. This is an information item this evening. We're asking the board to continue on with the regular meeting agenda and to insert the truth and taxation presentation into the agenda at the first natural break at or after 6 p.m. If
003a recess is needed. The board will be asked to take action to do so. Do I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda items and to amend tonight's agenda if needed as requested? So moved, Member Nehemiah. Second by Member Dukes. Motion by Member Nehemiah and a second by Member Dukes. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The motion is carried. Do I have a motion under our consent agenda? Do I have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda items? Motion by Member Warwick. Second by Member Nehemiah. Motion. Any discussion? Or motion by Member Warwick, second by Member Nehemiah. Is there any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? And that motion is carried. And so in view of those donations, thank you very much to those who have
004donated to the school district this past month. Your generosity and support of our schools and the community is much appreciated as they make a difference for our students. Big numbers. And can we go back to that real quick? Just wanted to point out Dakota Electric, on a rotational basis, Dakota Electric takes their excess funds from buildings that are in excess and donates those to school districts. So it's on a rotation basis, and this was our opportunity. And also at that same time, it goes to... Try to SIT Career and College Readiness because 197 also got the same donation. We're using it to support what happens with our Try to SIT CAPS program. Thank you. Now on to information items. As far as committee reports, there have been no committee meetings this month. So we will
005move on to membership reports. For the Association of Metropolitan School Districts, AMSD, Dave, will you have an AMSD update? Thank you. Yes, AMSD met on Friday, December 5th. The agenda included their routine business, and they had a guest speaker that shared a project in regards to dual enrollment and how dual enrollment is being looked at to hopefully improve the state's dual enrollment system and has a with a focus on strengthening policies and addressing Access gaps and this really comes back to kids that can take PSU and other options and how can we make sure that those are best serving them but also Best compensating districts for that loss should kids opt to go into PSU For a neighborhood fights best foundation update. Sheena will give that update Liz we please give us an MSBA update
006The Delegate Assembly of the MSPA was held this weekend and the legislative platform has been finalized for the 2026 session. The Assembly moved forward on several resolutions including our two proposed legislative priorities from 199 regarding funding and clarity on both summer unemployment insurance and the new paid leave law. Additionally, the platform includes a special legislative priority seeking a constitutional amendment to modernize the public school trust lands endowment. We will work on educating ourselves and the community on this. issue as it develops it's a big one it's really interesting and there's some pseo stuff in there as well okay i just want to take the opportunity to thank liz for her involvement with this because we want to make sure residents know that we're very active legislatively trying to do the best that we can for
007our students but also for our community at the same time thank you and an intermediate school district 917 update by date they will be meeting tomorrow all right moving on to action items For our 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 food service contract agreement, Director of Human Resources, Emily Herman. Director of business Heather Arnie will introduce the recommendation to approve the 2025-26 and 2026-27 food service contract agreement. Thank you. The district has reached a food service employee contract agreement for the contract period of July 1st, 2025 to June 30th, 2027. It includes a 2% wage increase each year along with a one-time payment equal to 2% of the contracted hours in both 25-26 and 26-27. These payments will be issued at the end of the school year for employees who worked through the last scheduled day or who
008retire with severance eligibility. The agreement updates district contributions to health insurance beginning January 1st of each year and summer program pay rates change to align with the school year pay and position. Additional changes include expanded eligibility for the district's matching community, which would begin at 20 hours a week because we have many hard of finding service employees. and one annual professional development day added to the calendar. Adjustments to SIC personal and funeral leave provisions for clarity in the language and working before and after holiday required for holiday pay and clarification in requirements for reimbursements. So the total cost of this tentative agreement is 4.2% with a one-time expense of approximately $15,000 from the the planned fund balance access. So tonight I'd like to ask for the board's approval of the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 food service
009contract agreement. Do I have a motion and a second to approve the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 food service contract agreement? Motion by Member Pearson. Second by Member Larson. Motion by Member Pearson and a second by Member Larson. Is there any discussion? All those in favor aye opposed and the motion is carried Thank you, and we will move to a second reading for review of policies Superintendent Dave Burnison will introduce the recommendation to approve several policies for second meeting for review Thank you, Jake. Yeah, the policy committee met and reviewed the following policies in October. These policies had no changes, minimal changes, and limited changes. They were presented for a first reading at our last meeting on November 17th. So the policies that we're looking at with no changes are 407, employee right to know, exposure to
010hazardous substances, 408, subpoena of school district employees, minimal changes of 305, policy implementation. and 404 employee background check and 409 employee employee publications and structural materials interventions and creations and we have limited changes to 406 public and private data and again these policies have their first reading at our last regular meeting on monday november 17th and we're asking the board to approve these policies as presented okay do i have a motion and a second to approve the policies presented for a second reading for review Motion by Member Klingner. Second by Member Buckeyes. Is there any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? And the motion is carried. And that brings us to our comments. So Superintendent Dave Bernerson. Thank you Jake. First I want to just share with people today was a flex learning day for
011our students in grades 6 through 12 and a non-school day for pre-k through 5. The flex learning day provides a lot of professional development time for teachers which is very valuable. Also want to thank our industrial tech teacher Sean Nelson and the Sydney High School students who helped design, build, and install the lights over the island bridge. Simley Island. I had a chance to go over a week ago Friday, I think it was, to see the, actually more than that, right after Thanksgiving, to see the lighting of the bridge. And a couple community members really got involved in that. Led by Rob Reitberger over at Hometown Meets, Commissioner Joe Atkins, and just a slew of volunteers. And what a fun event. And again, what a great thing for our kids to be involved in. Also,
012when we last met over at Simley High School, you heard about the Spartan Swag Shack? which opened up last week. I want to thank our business teacher, Craig Sprider, and the students who made that happen, and they'll look to have a gradual increase in what they're able to offer. I also want to share with you something that I typically don't do, but I'm going to read this, so bear with me. I have made the decision to retire as superintendent on June 30, 2026. It has been an extraordinary honor to serve the Invergrove Heights community since July of 2014. I have strived to uphold our mission of inspire, innovate, excel with community commitment and to help realize the aspirations of this amazing school district. I am truly humbled by the trust you have placed in me.
013Invergore Heights schools and the community represent a remarkable variety of people, ideas and commitment. Every day, in countless ways, we work together to improve the lives of our students and strengthen our community. I am deeply grateful to the many colleagues, mentors, staff members, families, and community partners who have supported me throughout this journey. Their dedication, leadership, and unwavering commitment to public education have played a significant role in the success of our students, staff, schools, and community. Thank you for your kindness, friendship, and grace, and above all, your many contributions to our school district. The support and collaboration I've received has been invaluable. I am proud of all that we've accomplished together and in the months ahead I remain committed to serving our school district community and ensuring a smooth and successful leadership transition. I just
014want to thank in advance because I know there's still six months but this journey has been a joy of a professional lifetime. I could never imagine myself doing a job like this and it was all set for success by this community and all the different board members and people that I've had a chance to work with and I look forward to again helping that transition happen and to continue on with the mission of our school district in the years ahead after my time is done. Thank you. Then we'll move on to school board comments and we will begin with board member Pearson. Well first I just want to thank the superintendent for all your leadership and the way that you have led the district and helped this board learn about the school, about the students,
015about the purpose. In my short time on the board You have been so patient in helping us learn about the district and what the school does and the thing that I take away from your leadership the most is The kids come first. This is about the kids and I hear your voice saying that all the time This is about the kids. And so thank you for always having led with that That will truly be your legacy Only other comment I would have is really really proud of our band and music program because in January the MSBA holds their leadership conference and there is a showcase of really outstanding musicians. They usually choose two to perform and River Heights Simile Band has a quartet that's going to perform there in January. So really pleased with that
016and excited for them. Thank you. Board Member Wardick. Just a very quick comment that the next superintendent is going to be Eric Big Shoes. They're nine and a half. Alright, board number, do you have a new one? I want to save most of my comments for Dave for later in the year. The second I wrote, oh, Dave, congratulations. And I have to talk to you about this. Though I just, Dave and I have been to heck and back on some things, like really, really worked hard together. So it's just been, I've learned a lot. But I will say more about that later in the year, too. I do want to say the legislative advocacy piece, it has been so wonderful to team up on that. Because I do think this year of all years, there
017are things happening so far beyond the control of this district and this community that we have to work with our partners, our city council people, our county commissioner, our legislators, the MSBA, the AMSD, so many people to try and help keep things going. So I really love having a partnership with Dave to do that. Alright, sorry. Board Member Dukes? Yeah, same thing for me about Dave. I won't say great things about Dave when the time comes for the end, but from the moment I came in here to pay my two dollars to figure out what Alex was doing, Dave was like, okay, let me tell you these seats. These are the two seats. I was like, what do you mean there's two seats, Dave? I was just coming to run for school. And so Dave
018has been helping me figure this out since day one. You owe me my two dollars. So, very appreciative to Dave and all the things. And I'm looking forward to going to the swag shack. Gotta get me a sweater or something. I'm really proud of that, from hearing about it. And it was just a room with some paint. And to see them out there and all their stuff was really fun. So, I need to know when it's open. So I can go and buy some stuff. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Board Member Larson? Yes, congratulations. I couldn't respond to your announcement right away because I didn't know what to say. You have led this small but mighty district and made us... Made them happy. So many great things that have happened here and relationships. That
019has always been kids first in relationships and they go hand in hand there. So thank you. Enjoy our last six months. And then just a quick thank you again to Liz for all of your legislative advocacy stuff because I've said many times that is not my forte. So I really appreciate you taking all of that on and doing a fantastic job. And this is also our last meeting before the end of the year, so I hope everyone has a great holiday, time off, and see you next year. And then that leaves me. And we have 12 minutes, so I'm going to take my time. We'll start with just the idea of donations. I just think, just drawing to that attention, we talk about it at every business meeting, but so many people donate not just
020money, but also things and time on such a regular basis, and you don't make it up on the screen. But thank you to those people and to everybody who donates. It really does take. all the things that we contribute to make schools work. And then, yeah, regarding Dave's announcement, I mean, we will definitely miss you. And I feel like I've known of you for a very long time because I was a younger-ish teacher when you were in the district where I work. And so I think... My awareness of you was, didn't really know you all that well, I just knew of you because you would see your positivity and exuberance and energy around the district, and I think that just, it means a lot when people, you lead by example, is what I'm saying. And
021then I just, some quick math, I think this year's graduating seniors, unless they specifically remember from kindergarten who their superintendent was, they have no awareness of any other leader but you, and I think what an awesome... legacy to leave. Just it really says a lot about the time that you've invested in our district. So thank you for that. And that is that. Motion to go into recess for... Yep. The annual truth and taxation hearing information item cannot begin until 6 p.m. So do I have a motion and a second to recess the meeting until 6 p.m.? Motion by Member Warwick. Second. Second. I'm member Duke. Motion by Member Warwick, second by Member Duke. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? And recess has, other recess will begin at 5.49 p.m. Recess has now ended.
022Member Nyamioya? Second by Member Warwick. All right, motion to resume our meeting by Member Nyamioya, Member Warwick at 6 o'clock p.m. The Truth in Textation Director of Business Services, Heather Ani, will present the annual Truth in Textation hearing presentation. Thank you. So Minnesota State law requires that we hold a public meeting between November 25th and December 29th at 6 p.m. or later, and it can be part of a scheduled meeting like this is, and allow for public confidence, and then we're able to adopt the final levy at the same time as well. So this will be a presentation of the current year budget and proposed property tax levy. We'll talk about the background information on school funding, district slated, the district proposed tax levy for 2026, and public comments. We made a motion and we
023have a second on the floor. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. The Minnesota Legislature must set funding for Minnesota public schools and as a result funding is highly regulated. The state sets the formulas that determine school district revenue. They set the tax policy for local schools and the maximum authorized property tax levy. They also authorize school boards to submit referendums for operating and capital needs to the holders for approval. The general education for nail allowance has not kept pace with inflation since 2003. And if we had kept pace with inflation, it would be an additional 19% or 1,420 per pupil. In 2024, we received a 2% increase, and in 2025-26, a 2.75% increase. So according to the Minnesota Department of Education in fiscal year 2024, we were underfunded in special education
024by $503 million and that is expected to grow to $524 million by 2028. My computer scrolls differently. Voter approved program authority per pupil for 25-26. This is where we fall in comparison to our neighboring districts. As you can see, we are second to the lowest next to Farmington. I like the slides. So the school district budgets are divided into separate funds based on purpose of revenue as required by law. Our district has general food service, community ed, building construction, debt service, internal service, OPEB trust, and OPEB debt service. This is the budget publication that we're required to publish every year in November. So this was sent to the county press a couple weeks ago. and put into the paper. It just gives our actual numbers for 2024-25 as far as revenue expenditures on balance and
025then what our budget is for this year. Our revenue is mainly general fund, $60.4 million. We also have food service at $2.8 million, community ed at $2.1 million, or $2.2 almost. Debt service just under $5 million, OPEC trust at $5,000,000, and debt service at $3.6 million. Of that general fund revenue, the state's portion of that makes up 72.9% of it. Federal is 2.8% and local is 24.3% and that includes local levy. General expenditures, salaries and wages with employee benefits makes up 75% of our overall budget. And then we also have purchase services at 17.4%, supplies and materials at 4.4%, and capital expenditures at 3.1%. Our expenditures are regular instruction at 41.2%, special education 16.4%, instructional support services at 8.3%, pupil support services at 14.5%, sites and buildings 10.7%, administration 3.7%, and district support services at
0264.4%. And this is our general fund expenditures per ADM. The numbers aren't coming through here on this slide, but it's about $1,300, and we fall right in the middle. So this is the amount that we spend per average daily membership. This one's, I think, about $15,000. $15,000, sorry. Oh gosh. All right. Change in tax levy does not determine a change in the budget. The tax levy is based on many state-determined formulas plus the voter-approved referendum. Some increases in tax levies are revenue-neutral because they are offset by state aid. Same goes for decreases. That could mean an increase in state aid. Expenditure budget is limited by the state-set revenue, the voter-approved levies, and our fund balance. And an increase in school taxes does not always correlate to an equal increase in budget. The school district has
027a different cycle than city and county. We have a budget year that begins July 1st, and our 2026 taxes, calendar taxes, provide revenue for our 26-27 school year. And the budget is adopted in June of 2026. The city and county... Their budget year begins January 1st and their 2026 taxes provide revenue for our residents were mailed out proposed tax levies in November and on this statement it shows the different taxing jurisdictions Dakota County, the city of Invergrove Heights, school district 199 and some special taxing districts. It shows last year's taxes and then the proposed taxes for this upcoming year. So in September, the board approved the preliminary levy authorizing the max, which allowed for fluctuations in the calculations. And then in the middle of November, residents received the tax statement. And today we have the
028public hearing, and the following would be certifying the final levy amounts. The proposed payable 2056 tax levy is a decrease of 0.88% and $169,364. This is a breakdown of the different areas of each specific line item. So as you can see overall, it's a reduction of almost 0.9%. One of the larger changes is between some of our bond payments. Overall the change nets to just $97,000, but there are some bigger fluctuations in the line items. Factors that impact the individual taxpayers' taxes is a change in value of individual property, the total value of all properties within the district, and increases and decreases in levy amounts caused by changes in state funding formulas, local needs and costs, voter-approved referendums, and other factors. So an example that we have... If you had two properties that were both
029$100,000 in value and the district was to receive $500, each property would be taxed at $250 each. But if one of them increased in value to $110,000 and the other increased to $125,000, they would have different portions of debt and the person with the higher value home would be paying more than the $250,000 where the $110,000 would be paying less than the $250,000. The following slides, we have a four-year school levy comparison because things can change significantly in one year, such as when we had the referendum, we usually look back at the four years to see the overall increase over those four years. And so we have examples of values that have not increased and values that have gone up by 5.6% in property value. And these estimates were prepared for us by Ehlers, our
030municipal advisor. I know this is a busy grid, but just looking at the first one, the $200,000 home value, you can see in the last column the changes from last year to this year would be $45, but the changes from 23 to 26 would be $77,000 increased, and that is because of the additional referendum. So this shows graphs on... Residents that have not increased in value, which obviously isn't realistic, but just to show what a $200,000 home property has, how it's increased over the four years and the same for the $350,000 property. The $350,000 is about the average in our area. So the slight increase last year, and I'm sorry that the labels are missing from this, the slight increase last year was from the referendum that our voters... supported us in in 2020. Estimated
031changes in school property taxes based on no changes in property value for commercial, there's a million dollar commercial and a million dollar apartment. As you can see, it has the same flow, but they have higher dollar amounts. Okay, total school property taxes with a home at estimated market value of $350,000. I can't remember actually because the labels aren't showing up in here. I'm sorry. But we fall right in the middle. That's okay. This is the one that was about $1,300. Sorry. $1,338 for a $350,000 home in our area. And that's an estimate. Changes in school property taxes between 23 and 26, so the four years, based on a 5.6 cumulative change in property value. The $200,000 home in the first year was $565,000, and that would be $576,000, $707,000, and $678,000. So again, just that
032bump with the referendum. And the $350,000 home would be $1,045,000, $1,064,000. 1,309 and 1,256, so that increase in the limit. All right, so our next steps would be for the board to accept comments on the proposed levy and the board to certify the tax levy. I don't believe we have anybody from the public here with comments, so that concludes the meeting. Thank you. Is there any discussion? Heather, just as a question on that, since we get a huge amount of our income from the state and a very, very insignificant portion from the feds, do we have any sense of the kind of the pass-through that the state is from the feds? Do you have any sense of that? Well, the federal funds that we get they do pass through the state. Oh they already do?
033Yeah, so it's about 1.6 million. That's 2% 2.8% of our budget. But it flows through and we do the request to MDE when we drop those funds. Okay, so if there's so generally if there's something changing sort of at the federal level it may be in other parts of the state pot that would affect the ultimate state. Our payments from the state not directly Related to that little percentage. Yes, sorry I'm not trying I'm not making sense. I'm just trying to get to There's other ways the state gains federal funds And if those funds are diminished that may ultimately diminish our state aid in different ways, but not directly from that small amount I think If we lost, if the state lost some pasture money from the beds, we would see it come out of
034that 2.8 or would it come out of the state money that we're seeing in that ground? I think if it was funding that was lost directly to the schools, we would see a decrease in that 2.8. But if the state were to lose other funding that we don't see, it was just in their overall budget, then there might be programs that they have to offset then with the state or the federal. So I think that's what I'm getting to. Okay, sorry, Heather. Yes, thank you. Okay, I'm just watching. I'm trying to watch all of those things in wonderment, but I really appreciate the kind of pie chart because I think it is hard to understand sometimes. Where is the money coming from? Any other discussion? Okay. So we'll move on to our action item, which
035is the certification of 2025 payable 2026 property tax levy. And Director of Business Services, Heather Aune, will introduce the certification of 2025 payable 2026 property tax levy. Thank you. So these are the numbers that we saw in the previous presentation for the treatment taxation, our overall levy being $19,130,400. This is a grid just broke between voter approval, general, net tax capacity, just how things are funded. And I'm going to have one a little bit more in depth that shows each of the line items, the red line. Safe school levy, long term facility maintenance, all those things. And the amount of the change in each of those boxes. Like I said, that service, that there's some changes between these, but ultimately the net is $97,000 in those big changes. But they look more significant when they're
036broken up like this. So our overall levy is a reduction of 0.8%, or $169,364. Tonight I would like to ask for the board's approval of the 2025-2026. Do I have a motion and a second to approve the certification of the 2025 payable 2026 property tax levy? Motion by Member Klingner. Second by Member Ward. All right. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? And the motion is carried. All right. upcoming meeting dates there will be a special meeting on Monday January 12th followed by a work session the next regular board meeting will be held on Monday January 26th and that leaves us with adjournment do I have a motion and a second to adjourn the meeting motion member Nehemiah second by member Pearson motion by member Nehemiah and second by member Pearson all those in favor
037aye motion is carried at 6 17 p.m.