001Okay, good evening. We would call this school board meeting to order on June 30th, 2025. Ask that you all please ask me to join the join me in the pledge of allegiance. I aliance 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. All right. The school board or Little Falls district mission statement is that Little Falls Community Schools will work together for each learner to achieve academic and personal growth in a collaborative, safe, and engaging environment. Kelly, do we have public comments? Yes, we do. Okay, while Kelly's bringing that up, I'll read the public comment policy. Thank you. Um, Little Falls Community Schools welcomes you to the meeting of the Little Falls Board of Education. This
002portion of the agenda will be limited to a total of not more than 30 minutes. Individual speakers are asked to limit their comments to not more than three minutes. The board asks that all comments be in keeping with, contribute to an atmosphere of civil, courteous, thoughtful, and respectful discourse. First speaker I have is Nicole Linkert. Good evening. My name is Nicole Linkert and I'm the parent of two young children who attend after night. And you know, at this point, I feel like there's not a lot left to say um except that for the past three months, there's been a lot of discussion about numbers. Numbers related to budget cuts, enrollment, projected funding, and how many buildings we need in our district. But what seems to be lost in these discussions has been the actual impact
003of what a closure of Dr. Knight with such a limited time time frame has had on our children. And so today I'd like to share a bit about what life has been like for my third and first graders. When my husband and I first learned of the potential closure of our school, we did our best to protect our children from hearing about this possibility. We filtered discussions. We redirected conversations from others. But it was only a matter of days before they heard the news about the potential closure from their friends at school. We refrained this discussion to help them understand and process the possibility of their school closing. Our children immediately jumped into action and baked dozens of cookies to have a baked sale fundraiser. They donated an impressive $130 from chocolate chip cookies to
004the doctor. But fast forward to just a couple of weeks ago, my seven-year-old woke up in the morning to tell me that he had had a bad dream. In his bad dream, bears had come to steal his cookies from his bake sale. But he was sad because he had thought that maybe if he had just made more cookies, you all wouldn't be voting to close his school. There have been many tearful nights with our kids sharing sadness, anger, and really big questions. While we parents at Dr. Knight have been scrambling to rearrange our work schedules, daycare arrangements, and transportation plans for the upcoming school year. My kids have been asking, "Who will my new teacher be? And will any of my friends be in my new class? Will my little brother be okay not having
005his big sister in his new school? Will I get to see my Dr. Knight friends from other grades? Will our recesses overlap? Who will be my gym, music, and art teachers? Will I get to do AR next year like I've been excited to do with Ms. Davis? And will I get to do the egg drop with Mrs. Brown? And while these questions might seem inconsequential for some of you, these are the things that are most important to my 79year-olds. And I can't answer a single one of these questions. This is the second year in a row that you've significantly disrupted our children's lives without adequate time to prepare, much less time to process. You did it last year with grade level banding. Countless families in our district will have children that will be attending three
006different schools in three years. I feel like you lack regard for what our families need. When our children walked out of the doors of their beloved school on the last day of school just a month ago, they didn't know if they would ever be going back. They didn't get a chance to say goodbye. The last day of school is supposed to be a celebratory day to kick off another fun summer vacation. My children cried on the way to school. They don't know if their friends will be going to Lincoln and Lindberg with them or if they'll be going to a new school district. Teachers and school staff were limited in how they could respond to really big fears and questions because the formal proposal had not yet been made by the board. They needed their
007teachers and their school leaders to help hold space for their feelings. Because of your timeline, to wait until March to let the community know of your intentions, to deny for more than two months that your minds were not already made up, and to wait until June to hold a final vote. You denied our kids the closure that they deserved and the time that they needed for transition. That falls squarely on your shoulders. Next, Sarah Rusted. My name is Sarah Rustad and I am coming before you tonight not just as a concerned employee but also as a parent with children in this district. I know this moment is difficult and emotional for many and I want to begin by saying that I I understand it feels hurtful. Uncertainty that comes with change is hard especially a
008change that affects our schools, our kids, our community identity. At the last meeting, someone asked where are the people who agree with the decision to close the school or who has something positive to say and I'm here to answer that. I support this district and I have seen and continue to see the good that it does. Years ago, I considered sending my children to Piers. When we moved here from Princeton, I went to Piers myself, so that was my first choice. We chose Little Falls, and I'm glad we did. Um, I feel really bad for families like Link Girts whose kids are having a lot of uncertainty right now, but my kids had a really positive experience here. Um, they're not what people would call the popular kids. Um, they could have easily gone unnoticed,
009fallen through the cracks. That's not what happened. Um staff met them where they were. They were interested in their interests and their needs. I did not mean to cry during this, but that is why I wrote it down. So, um staff here helped guide my kids into becoming responsible, kind, capable young adults. That is at the heart of education. That heart is alive in this district. I'm equally hurt and disheartened by all of the negativity surrounding this school district. I think that there are so many positive things going on and so much good to say. I I want to hear that our voices aren't being heard at these meetings. That's something that's been repeated a lot. I feel like that's a really important concern. I believe it's fair to say, and this is not going
010to be a popular opinion. I think it's fair to say that there's a difference between not being heard and not receiving the answer that you're hoping for. Everybody's hoping every building stays open, but because you have to come to the decision to close a building does not mean that you're not being heard. It means that you're taking everybody's thoughts into consideration and still having to make extremely difficult choices. So I think unfortunately there's no version of this story where everybody comes away super happy. Hard decisions are that they're hard and often they come down to making the best possible choice in the situation where perfect options don't exist. So I don't want to speak against anyone here but simply for the work our schools are doing and the people who make that possible. Uh, last
011one I have is Sarah Pullman. I don't think I'll get emotional, but anyway. Um, I'm just here to say that I'm not necessarily for closing Dr. Knight, nor am I necessarily for keeping it open. But I am for a school board who has the willingness and courage to make the tough, sometimes unpopular decisions to demonstrate financial responsibility with our budget to keep us out of statutory operating debt. We've been there. We've done that and we don't want to go through it again. Um those years were challenging for our students, our staff, our families, but we made it through. It is my hope and prayer tonight that we can all demonstrate flyer pride in the days and weeks ahead and become a better school district because of the difficult unfortunate decision that needs to be made
012tonight. We owe that to our students and our communities. So, I just I guess I want to take this time to thank you as schoolboard members for your tireless efforts in helping make our district the best it can be. Um, you are appreciated. Thank you. Okay, next we have the consent agenda which consists of personnel prior meeting minutes and approval of financial transactions. So I'd be looking for a motion. Is this the approval of the agenda? The consented Oh my my apologies. Yep, I missed one. Yep. I'm looking for a motion for approval of the agenda. So moved. Okay. I have a motion by Mark, a second. Have a second by Dan. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Oppose. Same sign. All right. Motion carries. All right. Now
013we get to the consent agenda. This personnel prior meeting minutes and approval of financial transactions. So move have a motion by Dan. Do I have a second? I'll second and a second by Kelsey. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Oppose. Same sign. All right. Motion carries. Resolution for acceptance of gifts. Are you doing this one, Sharon? Yes. Okay. Um Sharon Belaloo will introduce the following resolution and move for its adoption. Whereas the following have generously offered to donate to Little Falls Community Schools. Therefore, be it resolved by the Little Falls Community School Board of Education to gratefully accept these gifts. Little Falls Lions Club Charitable Gambling Account, a donation of $2,000 to the Little Falls Community Schools for the Lions Club Scholarship Fund. Diane Spillum, a donation of
014$315 for Little Falls Community Schools designated Lincoln Elementary. American Legion Post 446, donation of $1,400 to Little Falls Community Schools facts program, uh, which is family and consumer science program. Also, the American Legion Post 46, a donation of $1,400 to Little Falls Community Schools to the art club. Roger and Joan Theland, a donation of $7,500. Little Falls Rifle and Pistol Club, a donation of $1,000 to the school for the Clay Target League. The Initiative Foundation, Patricia Pinkney, a donation of $580 to the Little Falls Community Schools for the Playing It Forward grant initiative foundation. Patricia Pinkney, a donation of $4,520 also for the Playing It Forward grant. Bell Prairie Township, a donation of $1,000 to the Little Falls Community Service for general programming. The Flyer Athletic Boosters Club, uh, donation of $3,500 to the Little
015Falls Community Service football program for replacement jerseys. Curtis Olsen, BFW Post9073, a donation of $1,000 to the Little Falls Community Service Clay Target League. Big Lake Sportsman's Club, donation of $500 to the Little Falls Community Services Clay Target League. Little Falls Education Foundation of the Initiative Foundation, a donation of $15,758 to Little Falls Community Schools for the 2025 classroom grants. I need a motion for this, please. Or a second. Second. Okay. Thank you, Kelsey. We have a motion and a second. Uh, this is a roll call vote. Dan, yes. Doug, yes. Kelsey, yes. Mark, yes. Julie, yes. And myself is Yes. This resolution passes. Okay. Next, we have Flyer Pride cards. Julie, you want to kick us off? Thank you. And Gravy, middle school science teacher. Thank you, Ann, for adjusting to this new middle
016school position with such grace. You've done a remarkable job and you are appreciated. Rachel Kota, Larry Eggertson, Lindberg principal. Your determination to continuously improve and always strive for better does not go unnoticed. You lead with purpose and your commitment to creating the best positive environment for students and staff is evident in all you do. Thank you for always being willing to jump in and help wherever it's needed. Your positive presence, approachability, and genuine rapport you have with both students and staff make a lasting impact. Your leadership truly makes a difference every day. Lisa Sber, Mike Moore, Dr. Knight, interventionist. Mike always helps out when we are in a bind. He's the guy to call on when needing a bingo caller, covering a class, or mentoring a kid. Mike's energy, smile, fun, and quirks make him
017enjoyable to work with. We have been fortunate to have him support students at Dr. Knight. Best wishes, Mike, and congrats on your retirement. You will be missed. Leo Rosski and the Dr. Knight staff. Dr. Knight Ka Parent Club. Thank you so much to the Dr. Knight ka for making all the teachers feel so special during teacher prep appreciation week. You made that week so wonderful for us. Thank you for all the love and support. Dr. Knight elementary teachers. Um I have for Chris Dovas Lincoln principal. This was recommended by Lisa Sver. Congratulations on a successful first year as your principal. Your focus on teaching and learning along with your steady and supportive leadership has made a meaningful difference for both staff and students. Your thoughtful approach has strengthened the culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.
018I am grateful for the positive direction you've brought Lincoln in a new Kate 2 school and look forward to whatever is ahead. Next is for Lindberg SLP Nicole Brambrink. Nicole goes above and beyond um to try to create a stronger SPEED's team. She is always sharing helpful resources with our whole team and with much consideration. She also does great at engaging the entire student body by having educational or fun or both activities outside of her classroom. Thank you for being a team player, Nicole. And by Michelle Schultz, Larry Edgarton, Lindberg principal. Thank you for your unwavering support, transparency, and dedication to staff and students at Lindberg. I truly appreciate all the support by Jennifer Bray. Uh, this one's for Shel Chelsea Robinson, human resources. Your promptness, clarity, and support for all my questions have been
019increasingly helpful. I truly appreciate all the efforts you put into making sure everything runs smoothly. Uh Jennifer Bragg, Amanda Sidowski, Lincoln nurse. Thank you for working so closely and diligently on health needs of my student. I greatly appreciate you. Uh Raquel Tresco, Angie T. Schaefer, Early Childhood Center. Angie has embraced a new role this year with remarkable success. Her patience, kindness, and consistently positive attitude makes her exceptionally well suited to meet the needs of her students. Jenny Tax, Jessica Holm, PAR professional. Jessica immediately made an impact in her first year as a parah. She builds meaningful relationships with students. Jessica is able to communicate with students in a way that matches individual needs. Jessica is hardworking and always goes above and beyond to meet the needs of students and staff. Mattea Baker, school board and
020superintendent, thank you school board and superintendent Johnson for your dedication and commitment. Your thoughtful leadership and willingness to prioritize what's best for our students and staff even in challenging times is deeply deeply appreciated. We recognize the hard work and careful consideration you put into each decision and we are grateful for your service. Thank you a grateful stakeholder. Then an Toma Pah. An has been a wonderful addition to Dr. Knight. She jumped right in where we needed her to. Takes initiative and has great judgment and overall is a great person. Thanks Ann. We appreciate you. Leah Rosski Joy Irwin a Lindberg teacher. Thank you for going above and beyond by offering patience, guidance, and willingness to answer every question I have had. Collaborating with you over these past five months has been great, and I truly
021appreciate your support. At is recommended by Jennifer, and I can't read her last name. starts with a B. Brag. Brag. Okay, perfect. Thank you. Uh, Leoski, Dr. Knight, principal, thank you for wearing so many hats with grace and staying positive even during the most challenging times. Your steady leadership, optimism, and unwavering support have a ripple effect. Lifting staff, encouraging students, and creating a school environment where everyone feels valued and capable of success. The impact you make each day is deeply appreciated. Thank you, Leah Lisa Sber. and Jessica Peterson, band of music at Dr. Knight and Lindberg. Jessica deserves a recognition for the work she puts in preparing, planning, and organizing our concerts for music and band. Her love for what she does is undeniable. Thank you, Jessica Leah Roski. Alicia Czech, Head Started Teacher. Alicia
022constantly goes above and beyond in her support of students and families at Head Start. She has conducted staff trainings to enhance classroom support for her students and has demonstrated a remarkable ability to build meaningful connections, established trust, and foster strong relationships with families navigating trauma. Her dedication and passion for Head Start programs are truly unparalleled. Jenny Tax Melissa Miller, middle school ELA teacher, thank you for consistently modeling what it means to be a lifelong learner. Your commitment to growing professionally and doing what what's best for your students is truly inspiring. Your compassion and empathy make a lasting impact not just in your classroom but throughout our school community. Thank you Melissa for all that you do. Lisa Solver Jan Toma ECC coordinator. Little Falls is fortunate to have Jana as a leader who exemplifies kindness,
023thoughtfulness, and an unwavering commitment to hard work. Through collaboration with her staff, she's always striving for better outcomes for students. Her leadership fosters a culture of respect where everyone feels valued and empowered to do their best. Thank you, Jana, for all you do. Lisa Solver and the preschool team at Dr. Knight. Thank you for providing such a warm and caring environment for all your students. They are lucky to have such compassionate and wonderful staff. Keep up the great work, Leoski. All right, next presentation. Is that none? No. Okay. So, that's just on there. No presentations. Okay. Uh then I will hand it to you. The superintendent report. Yeah. 12 of us attended the June 17th and 18th leadership conference in our region, primarily our administrative team, and we had the opportunity to work on our
024strategic plan, action items, and goals, as well as um some of the growth and reflection as leaders within the district. The past two weeks, our multi-tiered systems of support, you hear us talk about MTSS leadership team participated in a six session virtual statewide training. It's really exciting to be a part of statewide training like that to learn from others but also get an understanding that we're a little bit ahead of the game when it comes to MTSS implementation which is nice. Last week with several other superintendents around the state I presented at the Minnesota State Compass Institute which also focuses its work on MTSS. Last week, over 20 of our staff in this room participated in AI training, which was extremely eyeopening. It helped us learn ways that artificial intelligence can enhance and create efficiencies
025in the work we do in our schools, not only as leaders, but as teachers. Highly insightful. On Friday, along with a number of other community members, I participated in a focus group with the Franciscan sisters. They are exploring ways to collaborate with community members and local partners to ensure that their properties and resources continue to be a a blessing to the region. Last week, we ended our special education summer school. We'll have some more summer school in August as we look ahead. The next school board meeting will sneak up on us quickly. It's July 14th and at that meeting we will have a presentation from our elementary principles related to grade level banding. Then a couple of staffing updates. I think we were able to hire two new teachers today. an elementary teacher who will
026be taking the spot of a teacher that resigned this summer and a math teacher at the high school who would take the place of John Morgan who's the new dean of students at the high school. That's all I have. Okay, questions. I have one question in regards to the AI stuff. Yeah. So, I know it can do really cool stuff. Can they talk about the kind of some of the guardrails of it too? Yeah, I know with our policy team, we'll have a policy meeting this summer, but many districts are implementing policy related to AI. It can be extremely helpful and it also creates some challenges for our teachers. But the reality of is as we look at we're preparing students for life after school. That's life after school. A AI is going to be
027a part of it. So helping our teachers be able to talk about it, introduce it, using it in ways that are meaningful and and appropriate for our students will be ongoing discussions for us. I see a lot of papers from students. Yeah. I wrote applications. Yeah, exactly. That sort of Okay, next we have new business. Um we have 11.1 is a um it's just it's a PDF. It's a summary of the public input from the meeting last Monday as well as the um administration I guess kind of summary or I mean is that the a fair way to the Yeah, I guess it's Go ahead. Yeah, at the public hearing, we we shared information from the school district perspective regarding the realities of our budget and the reasons why we're considering closing a school. We
028also had the opportunity to hear from, I think, about 12 community members who came forward and shared concerns. So, it was an opportunity to be able to have additional information to incorporate into decision making. So, it's just it's not an action item, but it's just information that's out there for anyone who cares to see it. So, any questions on that? All right. Next, we have the resolution authorizing the closing of Dr. SG Knight Elementary School. And I understand Kelsey, you're going to do this one. Yes. Okay. Pursuant to due call and notice, a regular meeting of the school board of Little Falls Community Schools, Independent School District number 482, held on the 30th day of June, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. Board member Kelsey Herszog introduced the following resolution and moved its adoption. Now, therefore, be
029it resolved by the school board of Little Falls Community Schools, Independent School District number 482 as follows. Pursuant to Minnesota statute section 123b.51 subdivision 5 and after publication of due notice the this board held a public hearing in Little Falls, Minnesota at 6:00 p.m. on June 23rd, 2025 regarding the necessity and practibility of closing the Dr. SG Knight Elementary School located at 504 East Minnesota Avenue, Randall, Minnesota. After consideration of all relevant facts and materials, including the testimony and materials presented at said hearing, this board hereby determines that closing the Dr. SG Knight Elementary School located in Randall, Minnesota, is both necessary and practical. Dr. SG Knight Elementary School building located in Randall, Minnesota shall be closed as of July 1st, 2025 or as soon thereafter as is practical. The reasons for determining to close
030Dr. SG Knight Elementary School located in Randall, Minnesota include the following. The district will achieve substantial cost savings of approximately $1.1 million to offset decreased funding due to declining enrollment by closing the Dr. SG Knight Elementary School building. The remainder the remaining school houses within the district have sufficient space to accommodate the needs of the district and the Dr. SG Knight Elementary School site is not needed for district educational purposes. Retaining the operations of the site located in Randall, Minnesota and closing the Dr. SG Knight Elementary School site is the best interest of the district for reasons including but not limited to the following. Enrollment has declined by nearly onethird of its students since the 20201 school year. A comprehensive review of district challenges in the areas of finances caused by declining enrollment and facility
031needs resulted in the board recommendation of closing Dr. SG Knight Elementary School. In making its decision, the board considered the following criteria. Actual operating cost of the Randall site. Enrollment trends. Capacity of all school buildings in the district. Number of available teaching stations within the Little Falls sites. Total capacity of the Little Falls sites, adequacy of the Little Falls school grounds for handling future and current needs, input from the public during a community public hearing and through other communications. In the view of of the board, closing the Dr. SG Knight Elementary School and transferring students and resources to the Little Falls sites will result in sufficient educational space with increased efficiency of operation, allowing the district to redirect more resources to educational programs rather than to operating excess classroom space. I need a second. I'll
032second. Okay, so this is a roll call vote. Um Julie, yes. Sharon, no. Dan, yes. Sorry, Mark. Yes. Doug, yes. And myself, yes. It passes. All right. Next, we have a resolution placing a continuing contract tenure elementary principle on unrequested leave of absence. Um, who is doing this one? You are. Okay. Uh Sharon Belaloo introduced the following resolution and moved for its adoption. Be it resolved by the school board of independent school district 482 as follows. That is proposed that Leah Rosski, a continuing contract tenur elementary principal of said district be placed on unrequested leave for absence without pay at the end of the 2425 school year effective June 30th, 2025. Set action is taken in accordance with the district master agreement and pursuant to Minnesota statute 122A.40 subdivision 11 upon the grounds described in
033said statute which are specifically as followed financial limitations. Be it further resolved that a notice of proposed placement on unrequested leave together with a copy of this resolution be forwarded to said elementary principal and that an affidavit of the same be placed in the personnel file with a copy of the notice and resolution. I need a second for this resolution, please. Second. Thank you, Mark. Um Doug, yes. Mark, yes. Julie, yes. Dan, yes. Kelsey, yes. And myself, yes. And this passes 6. Next, I have another resolution or lease purchase agreement for Apple iPads. Whereas independent school district number 482, the educational organization is authorized by law of the state of Minnesota to enter into the lease purchase agreement to acquire personal property, equipment, and other property for governmental or proprietary purposes. Whereas the educational organization
034has an immediate need to acquire and finance certain computer equipment, software maintenance and support services as applicable which are more fully described as exhibit A. And whereas to order the finance to finance the cost of acquiring the equipment, the educational organization desires to execute to execute and deliver the lease purchase agreement with Apple incor in incorporated and the payment schedule and together this will constitate the lease. Whereas all conditions precedent required by the constitution and laws of the state and requirements of the educational organization have been fulfilled to make this resolution and the agreement and lease a valid and binding obligation of the educational um or or originate. I can't even get the word out. Now therefore, the board of education of independent school district 482 resolves as follows. The educational organization authorizes and approves
035the execution and delivery of the agreement. The education or organization authorizes and approves the exe execute execution and delivery of schedule and a very long number to the agreement in an amount to not to exceed $486,437.50 50 cents for the purpose of financing the cost of acquisition and installation of the project. The persons of the educational organization listed below which are authorized officers are each acting alone authorized on behalf of the educational organization. Um I need a second for this please. Second. Thank you Dan. And this also is a roll call vote. I just had one question before we take the vote. Uh what happens with the old equipment? Was that on a lease and it goes back? No, we we own the old old devices. Um the issue we run into them is that
036the the software updates Apple stops right. Yeah. supporting that. So I understand that they're what 3, four years old. Um will uh parents or students be able to purchase those? Potentially that that could be an option. Um, we could donate them to other public entities as well that maybe don't need that high security level that comes with the updates. Um, so more to come with that. All right. Thank you. Any other questions before we vote? What What are we looking at? And maybe I missed it. Lifespan on these as far as when this these new ones will potentially be looking at stopping getting updates. Yeah. What's that? when they arrive in trouble. You have about the lifespan used to be about eight years. It's now down to six and could be down to five. The
037current ones we have are five years old right now and have exceeded what we need. Okay, last call for questions for Chris or Mark. Okay, then Doug, yes. Mark, yes. Julie, yes. Dan, yes. Kelsey, yes. Myself is yes. This both passes six to zero. Okay. Next, looks like uh an approval of the MRAA, Minnesota Rural Education Association membership for the 2526 school year. Um I'm looking for a motion for that. So, Motion by Dan. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Mark. Any further discussion? I think I bring this up every single year. Do we still use this MA a lot? We do. Yeah. This one doesn't have a fee, does it? Mhm. It does. Okay. Okay. But this is the one that we probably have more people go to. Yeah. The conference. But
038like aside from the conference, like our legal policies and stuff come from MSBA. So like can you just help me like what are we getting out of Ma? What you primarily receive from um MA are really two things. One is a an abundance of data regarding how decisions at the state impact our districts and even rural communities. Correct. And the lobbying that they do for rural communities at the state is immeasurable. Okay. Okay. Any further questions? All right. Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Oppos. Same sign. Okay. Next. An approval of the MSBA Minnesota School Board Association membership for the 2526 school year. Um I asked this one too and this is the one that's this is tied into board book. Is that correct? Right. Okay. And policies. Right. So,
039I'll make a motion to approve. Okay. I have a motion by Mark. Do we have a second? Have a second. And a second by Kelsey. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Oppos. Same sign. All right. Next. Approval of the Minnesota State High School League membership for 2526 school year. Um, I'm looking for a motion. So moved. Second. Okay. Okay, I have a motion by Kelsey, a second by Sharon. Any further discussion? I just know there's been a lot of, you know, conflict recently with like the 4A state softball tournament and Minnesota State High School League's stance on boys being able to compete in girls sports and vice versa. Um, I just don't know if I could support that. Okay. Any other comments, questions? Okay. Hearing none. All in
040favor signify by saying I. I. Oppose. Same sign. Nay. Okay. Motion carries. 5 to one. Okay. Next is a resolution. Is this you, Henel, Sharon? Yeah. Um, we have an extra one than we originally had one right after the other on this for the teachers. I have one for Shannon and one for Matt. Correct. Okay. Okay. Okay. Um, first be it resolved um, school board of independent district 482 as follows. It is proposed that Shannon Larson, a continuing contractual tenure teacher of said district, be placed on unrequested leave of absence without pay or French benefits and the end of the 20242 school year effective June 30th for a.20 full-time e business education position. Said action is taken in accordance with the district master agreement. Um significantly it is because of lack of pupils. Your proposed
041placement on unrequested leave of absence is not the result of implication of an education district agreement. Be it further resolve that a notice of proposed placement on unrequested leave together with a copy of this resolution be forwarded to set teacher and that an affidavit of the same be placed in the teacher's personnel file with a copy of the notice and resolution. I need a second for this resolution. So moved. Thank you. Um roll call vote. Doug, yes. Mark, yes. Julie, yes. Dan, yes. Kelsey, yes. And myself is yes. This passes 6. Our second one is, whereas the following teacher, Matthew Cell, a special education teacher, is a probationary teacher in Independent School District 482. Be it resolved by the school board of independent district 482 that pursuant to the Minnesota statute in the district master
042agreement that teaching contract of said teachers listed above probationary teachers in independent district 482 shall be non-renewed at the end of the 2425 school year effective June 30th 2025. Be it further resolved that written notice be sent to set teacher regarding the non-renewal of the teacher's teaching contract. The motion of this adoption is duly seconded by I need a second. I'll second. Thank you, Mark. And upon roll call vote being taken thereof. Roll call list. Um Doug, yes. Mark, yes. Julie, yes. Dan, yes. Kelsey, yes. And myself is a yes. That is also passes 6. Okay. Next, we have the adoption of the 2526 budget. Um, Chris, do you have anything or do we need to emotion and then have you talk it? Uh, why don't you go ahead? Just go through it. I'll jump
043to page four enrollment. Um, so enrollment is our single most important factor in determining the district's general fund revenues. Focusing on the purple area, either in the graph or the chart, either one works. From fiscal year 19 through fiscal year 24, we've experienced almost a 5% decline in our enrollment. Depending on which year you pick, that's anywhere from 80 to 120 students, which comes to 800 to 1.2 million annually, depending on which of those years you're looking at. Looking at fiscal year 25, our budget was built around 2,296 ADM. Pre preliminary um reports are showing that our enrollment is ending around 2314. So, that's a good indicator that our enrollment um is going to be positive for fiscal year 25 and have a a good um positive movement come year end. Looking at fiscal year
04426, the budget was built around 2,259 students. Um you can't see it from what's included on this page, but that is 58 students less than our projection model. Um, so a significant decline and contingency built into our revenue budget for for enrollment. Transitioning to the next page, looking at the general fund as a whole. Um the general fund is used to account for the district's normal operations which includes salaries for teachers, paras, secretaries, custodians, um major curriculum purchases, transportation, and and some facility repairs are also charged the general fund. For fiscal year 26, the basic formula allowance, which is the single largest source of revenue for our general fund, is going to generate $7,481 per pupil. Kindergarten through 6th grade generate that 7,481. And then 7th through 12th graders generate an extra.2 or $8,977 for
045a secondary student. So the basic formula allowance is going to generate $18.9 million for fiscal year 26. And then the chart at the bottom has the historical formula allowance increases. Um starting in fiscal year 25 um the state legislature in implemented a a floor of 2% and a cap of 3% to the basic formula allowance. So, some predictability with with our aid increases going forward. The next page is on fund balance. Um, we have an unassigned fund balance policy that calls for unassigned fund balance between 5 and 7%. Fiscal year 24, we ended with an unassigned fund balance percentage of 4.22%. Fiscal year 25, we were projecting to end at 6.33%. And this budget currently proposed is projecting we end fiscal year 26 with a 7.35% unassigned fund balance. The graph um has about 10
046years worth of history of our unassigned fund balance. Um this is the single most important factor in determining the district's financial health. Um the goal would be to um get to and maintain 15% unassigned fund balance. The next page is a summary of our general fund revenues. Um Chris, just before you go on, when we talk about unassigned fund balances and basically our piggy bank, what we have in there, we need cash flow money. Correct. So, at this uh 1,500,000, we're actually below uh if I remember correctly, it's about 2 million we need a month just to cash flow. Yes, I'd be very close to it. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Ideally, we'd like to have closer to two months, right? Okay. Um the next page, general fund revenues by source. Um state aids account for
04781% of our general fund revenues. Um we are we are dependent on state aids and we are very sensitive to legislative changes or legislative cuts. Um the second biggest category is our local levy at 12%. Um we currently levy the maximum allowable dollar amount for our district. Um so the only way we could increase our local levy to bridge a a deficit in our budget would be to go to their our voters for an operating referendum. Um so overall the general fund budget is about $35.5 million. Um federal aids account for roughly 4% and then other miscellaneous revenues would be like donations, local fees, fundraisers, those types of things. Transitioning to our general fund expenditures by program series. Um 68.72% of our general fund budget goes towards instruction. If you include pupil support services, that
048jumps up to 80% of our general fund budget is used towards pupil services. Um our general fund expenditure budget is proposed to be 35.5 million. Um transitioning to the next page, same information presented differently. This is a general fund expenditures by object series. 73.5% of our general fund budget is accounted for with salaries and wages. And the second biggest category at 18.5% is purchase services, which is primarily transportation for us. So that's the end of the general fund portion. I'll jump back to that on the last page for a more broad summary. But the next page here is food service. We we serve roughly 2,800 meals a day at five sites. We are currently operating under the universal free school meals program. This will be the third year of that program. That allows us to
049serve one free breakfast and one free lunch to all students. Um projecting roughly 1.8 million in revenue in the food service fund, which is relatively flat compared to the prior years. Looking at the next page, food service expenditures by object. Um nothing too exciting here. about 2.1 million in expenditures, which is fairly consistent to the prior year. Um I'm hoping the we experienced a large increase in fiscal year 24 for um food costs. I'm hoping that levels off here in fiscal year 26. Jumping to the next page, community services revenues. Um this is used to account for community service activities, classes outside the traditional school day. Um early childhood, family education, adult basic ed, school readiness, and our child care program are accounted for in fund for um fairly significant increase in revenues to 1.6
050million. That's primarily due to uh the child care facility being up and operational for a full year. Looking at the next page, community services expenditures. Um, again projecting a large increase to um the community budget due to the daycare. Um, I anticipate we'll be revising these budgets fairly heavily come December when we do our revised budget and we have better data for the child care center. The next page is our debt service fund. Um, we use the debt service fund to account for our principal and interest payments on our outstanding debts. Um, we're projecting about 2.1 million in expenditures in our debt service fund and about 2.1 million in um, expenditures. So, fairly balanced. We're anticipating the fund balance in the debt service fund will be $461,000 come year end. Um we're by law we're
051required to keep 5% of our revenues um to protect against delinquencies. And then the chart below has our outstanding um um schedule of principal and interest payments. Um no significant changes or drops in the next 10 years or so. The next page is our property taxes. This is uh taxes payable uh 2025 which we recognize as revenue for fiscal year 26. This is one of two formats I typically use. This one I would recommend to use with a um a community member. And I'd recommend starting at the bottom. The two the very last two lines are the two lines that u that show up on an individual's tax statement. you have the vote approved in the other category and from there you can drill down and kind of figure out what caused an increase or
052decrease for your individual statement. And then the last page is ultimately what you are all asked to approve. I always like to highlight the very first line, our unassigned fund balance. As I stated earlier, that's the most important factor in determining our financial health. So on the far right, we're projecting a $46,000 increase to our unassigned fund balance, which would leave us at the 7.35% of percentage for our unassigned fund balance. Um the next section there is our restricted reserves. We have 15 restricted reserves currently that the state mandates that we have. anything from long-term facility maintenance. When you see the district remodeling bathrooms or any kind of deferred maintenance things, that's where that money is more than likely coming from. Can't charge staff to those funds. We currently have 1.4 million available for deferred
053maintenance projects. Other than that, in the restricted areas, it's pretty much status quo. If you go about halfway down, there's a general fund total. Our general fund total for all all fund balance accounts has a surplus of 12 million or excuse me 12,978. Like it better the first time. I do too. Um I do feel this is a very conservative budget. All of our certified contracts are expired today. So um we have some flexibility built in depending on what happens with those and also on the enroll or revenue side there there is some flexibility there as well I I feel anyways we we'll see how it shakes out and then I'm not going to touch on the other non- major funds but um all the way down at the bottom our total all funds budget
054is on the revenue side is $46,10,244 4 and on the expenditure side it's $46,427,776. So then what that you're saying is that for next year we see a de a deficit correct is that the 417 the bottom in in all funds in all funds. In all funds the general fund has a surplus in this budget of $12,000. Mhm. 13 almost. Um, typically with an adopted budget, I shoot to be within 3%. So, come December, January time frame, I look to revise this up once we settle our contracts and those sorts of things. But, slowly improving from a budget standpoint. Okay. Can I ask a question? Yes, I was going to say that question. Can you go back to the slide that has the um unrestricted fund balance policy we have at the beginning? Chris, we
055were all here for this, but can you kind of explain that one? What happened between 2021 and 2023? Is that COVID related? Is that why we lost so much in this in this balance? I I would say even go go up one more or two more pages to the enrollment. So you look at fiscal year 19 pre- pandemic the district was floating around that 2,450ish students. When the pandemic hit, we lost, you know, 82 to 120 students and the district didn't adjust their expenditures for that loss of students. So primarily that's what happened. Um there's certainly some other smaller things but primarily that saw a decline in enrollment and didn't adjust to it. Okay. Can I ask another question about the um general fund expenditures that pie chart? You have worked at some other districts.
056I know Mr. Johnson has too. Do you think that we are in line with staff salaries and benefits coming with 73 and a half% of that budget? I think that's realistic. I do. Every district's a little different, but generally I most districts fall into that range. And Chris, isn't this year our salary negotiations for all our teachers, paras, custodians, all the way? Well, it's hard to set a budget when we don't know what the negotiations are going to come out at. Absolutely. He gets really high in those situations, right? Be on the safe side. Oh, you built that in a high side already. Okay. Okay. Any other questions? No, we look at a revised version in December or January. December. Yeah. December. Anything else? I would look for a motion to approve the proposed budget.
057So moved. Second. Okay. I have a first by Dan, a second by Sharon. Any further discussions? I guess you say we we've looked at this before, so this this isn't the first time we're seeing these numbers and we've all had chances to ask Chris questions. So, it's I we're not flatfooted up here tonight. We kind of knew this was coming. Okay. Anything else hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. Oppose. Same sign. All right. Motion carries. Next we have a I guess a action to that we approve Greg Johnson to act as the identified official with authority or the Iowa for Little Falls Community Schools. This is just kind of standard kind of boilerplate stuff. Um so looking for a motion. I I'll make a motion. A motion by Kelsey. A second. Second.
058A second by Mark. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Oppose. Same sign. All right. Old business. Approval of policy 533, the wellness policy. Does our uh our committee have anything that our policy committee looks looks good to me. We've had time to review it for three months. I haven't found anything. Okay. That I would change. It's basically what we're doing now. We're just putting it into words. Okay. For the state of Minnesota, what I understand. Yeah. And it's mandated through our food service program that we review this annually. And there there are a couple of things that we will put in place as we had our review this year. There's some components that have been missing. So, one I think is a committee that meets on a consistent
059basis to address some of the the components within wellness within our school district and we'll get that started right away this year. Okay. All right. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Oppose. Same side. All right. Reports from board members. Dan, you want to start us off? The trap team did very well this year. The state trap tournament was on the 16th of June and both our novice group and the JV took first in our respective division. So, it's been a good year for trap. It's uh fastest growing sport in the country. So, based on the donations, they're getting a lot of practice from shells, though. Shells are expensive. Yeah. Okay. Anything else? N Kelsey, uh Morrison County Fair was uh this past weekend and um it was really
060exciting to see a lot of the student artwork on display. That was fun. I have nothing to report. Sharon. Well, we all know it's been a rough few months here and I just want to say thank you to um both Little Falls and Randle people that contacted me and other board members and and became involved with the decision. I know many of us are not happy with the way the decision had to come out. But after looking at the budget, we all know the the reasoning for that and if people have better ideas, either let us let us know or in a couple years run for the board. There'll be seats open. Okay, Julie, just a couple of things. Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you'll be criticized anyway. Elena
061Roosevelt said that. The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes. Tony Blair. Except for today. Today a yes means we are closing school. Today it would be easy to say no to appease the anger and sad. But saying no could actually create more anger and sadness for the rest of the district. I have heard those that have spoken for keeping Dr. Knight open. Even though most of you are claiming we don't hear you, it's not easy accepting change or something that is very emotional. I am sorry for the sadness it has created. I am happy for those that attended the school and loved every second of it. That means our teachers and support staff did a great job. We can't continue to keep a building open
062that hasn't operated in a financially positive way in many years just because it has history. We are at a very important and difficult time and this is what needs to be done at this time in order to avoid a financial crisis. I am not comfortable going into statutory operating debt. We need to take this action now. This is not the only action we are taking despite some thoughts out there. I am grateful for all the ideas and suggestions that have come before us these past few months and I hope we can successfully and swiftly get these things in action while continuing to do our best for all the students in our district. That is all. Okay. Thank you. and myself, I will say um you know the same thing to the people at Dr. Knight
063and the the supporters. I appreciate your reaching out to me. I respect your passion. Um I understand it's hard. None of us sat up here and thought this was something easy. It's been a very difficult, very trying. I my only regret is that I wish it could have stayed a little bit more professional and less personal, but that comes with emotional things. So, um, that's I guess all I have to say. Okay. If there's nothing else, you will notice on the agenda that we need to close the meeting as we will discuss the superintendent's contract. So, I guess what I would be looking for a motion to adjurnn. I'll make a motion meeting. Okay. And a second. Did she Did you say adjourn or or close? Well, we have to close it. We'll close it
064right and reopen it. So, yep. So, okay. So, I have a motion by Sharon. Did Mark, you had a second? Yes. Okay. A second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. Oppose. Same sign. Okay. Motion carries. For those of you in the audience, you may wait. I don't know how long it will take, but we will definitely come back and um and readjourn the meeting. So, but that is the last item for the night for us. So, okay, we're going to go across the room. Yep. Across here. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Okay. [Music] Hey. Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. [Music] Nat. Heat. [Music] Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, [Music]
065hey. All right, everybody ready? Okay, go ahead. Did we have or should we have closed but we the closed session? Pardon? Were we supposed to close the closed session? I did. He did. I did. Yep. Okay. Now we will um I need a I need a motion to reopen the session. Okay, I have a motion from Dan. I have a second. A second. Okay. And a second from Kelsey um to reopen the session to for approval of the superintendent's contract. So um all in favor signify by saying I. I oppose. Same sign. Okay. Motion carries. So um in the close session we came to a consensus that we would approve the superhero contract as presented. Um any further discussion. Thank you for what you do. Thank you. Appreciate your support. Leadership is irreplaceable. Thank you.
066Okay. So um I would look for a motion to approve the superintendent contract. Awesome move by Sharon. Second and a second by Dan. Any further discussion? We open with the media. Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Oppose. Same side. Okay. Who wants to adjourn? I'll make a motion to adjourn this meeting. Motion by Sharon, second by Kelsey. Any further discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. I. Oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. Thank you everyone. The bears are not. Thank you.