001I don't have my phone. >> Not on the desk where I need it to be. >> It is 5:30. And again, thank you all for being here early. I pledge algiance 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. >> Okay, we're kind of mixing up the agenda a little bit. We're going to do a roll call and adopt the agenda. Then we're going to skip the audit and then go down to the reports. And that way folks can go to the concert if they so desire and go from there. All right. So roll call is Tanya >> here. Tom >> here. >> Jeremiah >> here. >> Lisa >> here. Lori >> here. Chuck >> here.
002>> And Linda is here. >> I missed somebody. Okay. Uh, is there are there any additions to the agenda? Mr. Le, we add resolution establishing combined polling places for multiple precincts. That is a every year one. We just didn't have it on the original agenda. And then under consent agenda and that would be like 6.5 consent agenda to personnel add Esther Schwarzener going for part-time to full-time pair professional beginning January 1st 2026 and Alexis Kraa going from full-time to part-time pair professional beginning January 1st 2026. Basically kind of swapping times there. And I have one addition I would like on there as well. Uh we need to discuss and take action on the superintendent contract for the next three years. So and I would need a motion to accept the agenda as amended. >> I'll
003make that motion. >> Second, I have a question. >> Yeah. Um, what was there a committee form to produce a contract? >> He has a contract. We gave him one. >> That's why he's working this year. >> Yes. >> So, we're just renewing. >> I see that contract. >> Otherwise, everything's the same. We didn't. >> Yep. >> Okay. So, we got uh any discussion on the agenda? Any discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. >> Okay, we're going to skip the audit. She's not here anyway. Oh, good. We're going to go into the consent agenda. Then I need a motion to accept. Are there any questions on the consent? I move to accept the consent agenda. >> Okay, >> I'll second. [snorts] >> Any discussion on the consent agenda?
004>> Any discussion? Any discussion? >> All those in favor say I. >> Opposed? >> Motion carries. Okay, done. We're going to scoot right into the reports. We have students tonight. Yay. step up to the podium. >> Good evening. I'm Kayen Schultz. >> I'm Chelsea Dominguez. >> And we are here to tell you about the events that have been happening at the high school. First, we went to Meadows Place to sing carols and decorate for the for Christmas. >> And Friday, we are helping second graders build gingerbread houses. >> At the high school, we have been having a competition of decorating our doors and our advisor's doors. and we have dress up days that uh correspond to the elementary. [snorts] >> We will be planning snow days activities and dress up days and lunch games tomorrow
005at our meeting. >> Snow days will be January 26th through the 30th. We will have many lunch games and afternoon activities are a lot of fun for the students. To finish off the week, we will have a fun day picking an all day activity. Cool. >> Cool. Very. Thank you. You guys are busy. Busy. Busy. BUSY. [applause] ARE THERE any guests? Did you look? >> Yeah, there was none. >> No guests. All right. Thanks, guys. Drive careful on the way home. [cough] >> Any questions for our AD? Any comments for the AD? >> Kelsey, tomorrow night, the soup and sandwich me deal. What time does that run? >> Um 4:30 to 7. Okay, thank you. >> And then there will be a bake sale and boys are doing pop shot at halftime and a 50/50
006raffle. >> Is this money that you're raising used for anything in particular or just to kind of help the >> It's going straight into the girls [clears throat] and boys basketball fundraising accounts. >> Okay. >> And then whatever the coaches kind of use that for like extra stuff throughout the year. So, I'm not >> Okay. >> I'm not sure right now what they'll use it for. >> Did you write a grant? >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. [laughter] Um form, was it B? >> Yep. >> B was approved. Um that verification, I think it's 3,500 we'll get back because so many schools applied for it. And form A was also everybody in the state was approved for form A. So, I'm not sure what money will come back or not, but >> So, that's to say that
007our MS >> HSL Yeah. >> money that we pay for dues is going to come back to us a little bit. >> A little bit. >> All right. Great. Thank you for doing that. Community, any questions for Mr. Evenson? [clears throat] Brad, I can throw something at you here quick. Um, when we get federal funding, we have to consult with other area schools. Does that mean [cough] if they are on board that we actually give them some of the funding? >> Yes. It's a state law. It's a law, federal law. So what happens is we get we we will get an amount and it's adjusted for pupil units within our district and because it's within the district um they have rights to some of that money. So what happens is we u there's a formula
008that's used to to decide exactly how much money they have as what their it depends on what their population is at the school. Um so and then we also have to we're in charge of actually delivering those services also. So if they if they ask for the money, if they ask if they agree to do that, they have to write goals to go with that, but they actually get a chunk of our title one money. And they see not just title one, it's title one, title two, and title three. [clears throat] >> Why does St. John's operate? >> They turn it off. They turn it down. I mean, isn't it a isn't a >> um the reason >> nobrainer that >> Well, the issue they have the issue that they have with it is um
009they don't want to um there's been some issues with them not wanting to have to follow a schedule for us to service them. Um so, they would rather [snorts] >> Yep. Yep. And their money is very very tiny because there's they're enrollment so small. >> This does not apply to home schools. >> Nope. No. It's only It's private schools that have a charter, so they have to have to be filed with the state of Minnesota. >> Thank you. >> Yep. [clears throat] >> Anything else for Mr. Evansson? >> Anything else for Mr. Evenson? [snorts] Okie dokie. Technology. [snorts] Any questions for Mitchell here? Does the change in Skyward mean parents will have to change any of their login information? >> Okay. >> They will not have to change login information, >> but it'll be different
010screens and >> it'll look nicer. >> Okay. >> More options. Yep. [snorts and clears throat] >> Anything else for [clears throat] Mitch? >> Anything else for Mitch? Wow. Good. business [snorts] manager. Miss Sherry, anything questions for the business manager? There was a nice article that she put in explained a lot of things I think on the different funds we have. So, any further questions for Sherry? Okay, principal, let's have it. We all done with Christmas concerts? Not quite. >> Tonight's the last one. >> We're going to pack boxes tomorrow night. [clears throat] Hey. >> Yes, we are. >> No. >> Any other questions for the principles? >> Oh boy. >> Board members, anybody go anywhere? [snorts] go to any workshops. Last time we forgot to ask. I know Chuck, you went to Ma last time.
011>> I did. >> Is that good? >> Yeah, that was a month ago. I forgot. >> I know. [laughter] >> I remember to ask you tonight. >> But thanks for asking. >> No, it's a good it's a good conference. I actually like the smallalness of it, the ruralness of it. I think it's actually probably that served in MSBA, but [snorts] >> I think yes, I think I enjoyed the conference. I wish that they would give you a map or something where you're going. [clears throat] >> If it wouldn't have been for staff, I would have never found anything [snorts] >> because it's so spread out. But >> no, it was a good conference and definitely worth the time to go and any place else anybody went superintendent >> I have my report there's some questions
012I have the goals on there the attendance the board minute which delves a little bit into taxes Go ahead. Do you have any requests other than that one for on taxes? The one that had the big jump and was there anything else came to you? >> Um like uh >> yes with the >> Oh no. Um, and in the truth and taxation stuff, you'll see all right, uh, that PMA provides a tool so you can see where taxes compared to our neighboring districts. can um what's really important when you get your tax statement is take a look at if your assessment changed or if your crop property classification changed because um the school district for most people the percentage that their taxes increase was less than the value that their home increased by. So u
013after I got that one question I sent the same answer that I shared with you guys as a board member. really haven't heard too much. >> The strategic planning survey, how long is that open yet? >> Um, we're going to talk about it as a admin team. It's been open since, I believe, after Thanksgiving. And we've been sending out parent square alerts and then we've had little [clears throat] QR codes set out at events and we have 70 total responses. I did have a I wasn't able to get the Spanish ones translated, but this is the same exact survey and um actually uh really appreciate those who responded to it as they seem to have be very thankful for the services the schools provide. So appreciate their input and the questions we developed in our
014leadership team and we went through each of the strategic plan initiatives of that like uh pride elevate um dedication to learning through all and uh developing quality relationships and we develop questions for each of them. So we develop a baseline for that. Any other questions or comments for Daniel? >> Um, since Becky is in the audience now and just make sure that I get her to put later, I'll talk about the MLL. And here's a nifty little graphic that [snorts] let's see that Patty produced. and I handed out a paper copy of it and she did a really good job of compiling this information. The reason this says moved and plus is that that number would be that much larger if everybody had stayed put. So you can see how many people were moving. And
015she has the grade levels and how many students from ESL are in each grade level and how that has been developing. And then when we had um St. Mary started when we started service in early childhood and then like the total numbers over here. Yeah. Nice little graphic there. Patty, was there anything you wanted to say on this in case uh like something would call your attention away? Not at this time. If board members ever have any questions, you have my email or my phone number. You can always call or stop by too if you're wanting any further information about our program and the students. Thank you so much. >> She also provided a little bit of historical information on the side here. She did a very good job of compiling that. So, um yeah,
016I'll talk more about that later, but uh that's any questions on that. Okay, very good. Are there any board highlights you want to mention tonight? Board members, band concert was phenomenal. Not [snorts and clears throat] because I got granted. It wasn't very good. Anything else? Honor society ceremony was very nice. Um, lots of folks there too. That was good. Anything else you guys been to? We are such a quiet group. I think we're we got [clears throat] 10 minutes maybe. Let's talk about the unfinished business with a school calendar. >> Yeah, that's a good one. So, be clear, we're not deciding anything. I just put some calendars together to facilitate discussion. And so, some of the major ones that we gathered staff feedback on was one was if in um the fall conference and it
017seemed to be a lot of staff felt like we should either move that up or keep it where it was. that if we did like an evening of conferences followed by like a morning, that's the way that's set up. Um, that would provide more time for those parents that have late shifts and things like that. And so we're hoping to maybe make it easier for parents that work around their work schedule if that was also available. this one um you'll see and not all the calendars have this but like a professional development day after that um parent teacher conference it gets to be a long night so um pairing it with that could be good [snorts] this calendar happens to have a a data retreat at the end of it this one happens to have
018two days it's two or three was just to give people a day off before that if we I'm going to go this way. But um if you go slightly into June, then Christmas break can be longer. Um but one of the big things we talked about as admin team was having more professional development days. And the reason for that would be to have more time for collaborative work for like vertical planning, which would be to get teachers together and talk about like I'm in second grade, we're teaching this math standard. You're in third grade, you're teaching. Where do you pick up off? and also the other way and have a more formalized and robust staff development system. And if we had regular professional development days, we would uh work with our professional development committee and
019structure it around that available time. Since we have extra days built in the calendar, we have some legal room to do that. And so the only reason it's on the schedule tonight is to get feedback as we're still getting feedback from the professional development committee and admin team for recommendations. That's why it says in the top for discussion purposes only. So on all of them from what I saw, you're we're starting the week before Labor Day, correct? Because the Labor Day is late next year, right? >> Yeah. It's because Labor Day is late and you're allowed to start on the 1st of August. >> Okay. >> September. >> Oh, sorry. I'm not counting that >> early. I was thinking that I wasn't going to say it. >> Okay. The other thing I kind of like
020is I know parents too um that going to school on the 23rd or not going to school on the 23rd is a discussion point a lot of times of December. >> Oh yeah. And the thing is I have to put the days somewhere else. >> Mhm. [snorts] >> At least if the contract days stay the numbers they are. >> Yeah. >> But one thing I like about adding professional development days is that I know people frequently talk about having a time to meet and things like that and then you know versus dropping days you actually reserve some days specifically for that purpose. And I've developed systems in other schools where we met regularly with PD and did it. It becomes a pretty crucial part of school improvement because uh you know a lot of times
021you're running so fast on the hamster bill you never have time to stop and say like uh is this the best way to do it? >> Any thoughts over there from the principles? We've been talking about this for a while. >> [clears throat] >> I like um I really like the evening and then the next morning conferences. We did that when I first came to Long Prairie Gro and it really serviced our families well and I think with all of our families and where they work, I think it just gives some more options and I say that knowing that our attendance at the elementary is really good at conferences. I just think we can serve our families a lot better with that. that's been an ongoing I mean staff brought that up too as well
022as community members you know so I think it's just adjusting to what >> yeah let's try it I think it would be a good thing >> I know back in the day gray eagle did it that way all the time >> it's not a real brand new concept >> and then there's the other thing for staff that whole week in between it just we have to restart the whole engine up again meaning build up the tear down. It's a lot of work putting that on. Secondary turn is elementary too. So it's a win-winwin across the board. >> So what did you want from us? Just >> your thoughts. >> Thoughts. >> Do all of them have the morning after the evening up morning? I think all of them do because that had like really um
023a lot >> because one of them is later if I remember right can't find which one is in November. Yeah, because um there was really a lot of support for giving that a try >> and we've gotten it a lot on feedback in our title programs too that like you know having that option the hope is that it can be more give them more flexibility for the parents and their schedules. >> I think that's what we have to do. I mean we've got to think of the parents. They're the ones that drive us nowadays. I do want to recognize that it is more work for the secretaries especially at the elementary because they have to survey parents and then schedule instead of just scheduling. So I do recognize that it's more >> anything else any
024other ideas you just speak up to Daniel or the principles or >> and feel free to ask people their two cents on it. That's part of the reason we brought it up so early so people chew on it >> and we plan to get more feedback from the professional development committee and hopefully come back with like a recommendation set. >> No, you can sh like if say we voted on it in January, you still can change it. Yeah. >> But like it is very beneficial to like athletics for example and other things for planning activities. I would say probably a community ed too I would assume because then you know when school is you'd be surprised like some of the stuff gets planned like a whole year and a few months out in advance. So
025people really do appreciate having the calendar out even if we make tweaks to it later. >> Well I hate to go keep going back there but when I did community ed a lot of things we created were corresponding days. So like all the music concerts were always like the B the choir concert was always this Monday in December and that way everybody else knew it and you just went. So it is nice to have those dates kind of ahead of time. Okay. So put your thinking hats on and talk to somebody when you get that far. >> Yeah. >> All righty. Um you ready to go on? We got five minutes quick. this parent ed proposal. Lisa, I don't know if you have time to look at it. We looked at it at last board
026meeting >> and we decided we had to have Lisa here, too, so we could decide if we wanted to go [snorts] ahead. So, does anybody have any questions or concerns about that yet? Want to talk about bring it up? >> I think it would be a good thing to do, but I think we need a commitment that we're all going to be there. I mean, we need to we're going to spend the money to do it. We need to commit to doing it. This might be >> I think so, too. >> It was the $1,200 and then there was a monthly check with it, right? >> If we use them >> if we But we don't we don't have to utilize them. Okay. >> So, it was 1,200 and I think each one of those
027was 250 or something. >> And how long of the part one was it? How long of a session was it? >> Three hours. 3 hours. >> Y >> I think the two of them were coming here to do a live instead of webinar. [clears throat] >> And we did not want to utilize the monthly subscription or we did >> that was part of the discussion to have now. >> So if we go for it, we can decide if we want. >> Plus then I'm assuming here's mileage that we'd have to pay them >> for that part of it. Y the other ones I believe are virtual. So >> the the second ones I believe if I read this correctly were only were virtual with just the board chair. >> What I understood too, but I'm
028sure I could bring somebody along if I wanted to. So I think it's pretty easy to adapt it to what we want to see. >> Were you interested in those additional classes then with you and Daniel and them or was that something? >> I think it's just she them and me. Oh, okay. I think Okay. Um I think I'd want to go through the three-hour one first and see [clears throat] what was on [snorts] white. >> So, any other questions? Anything you saw on there that tweaked your curiosity? I do think it takes all seven of us to make it work. If it's going to work, I would I mean that would be something I would support because I've talked about that already before [snorts] >> probably at Naz. >> When are we thinking of
029doing this? I >> think we just decide when we want >> during the school year during the summer, >> you know, just give a time frame so people know >> what their lives are like at that time. Maybe busy. I think that would be up to us [snorts] >> for the three-hour session. They come to us. >> So, that's up to you guys. Are you thinking we're going to do it? Maybe that's first place we go is are we thinking we're going to do it and then we should go to the when I I'd be in favor of doing it and I as for the when from my thought that time frame from middle of March to middle of April after kind of your winter sports are done before the spring sports start for those
030that have >> it would probably take that long to get it all arranged anyway. students they want to go watch >> and then we're not into the summers of >> right >> vacations and that type of thing going on too >> for a motion >> I'm thinking but it should have to be unanimous >> right >> so if everybody's okay then I would accept a motion if you need absolute board member. >> Do we need a motion really or can we just do consensus on this or >> I Yeah, I guess you can do consensus. Um >> but I mean in this situation it's probably a tomato tomato everybody. >> I'm for it. But if everybody's not on board then I'm not for it. So how do I >> speak any different? first seek consensus.
031>> I'll vote for it with that conditionous. >> I also think [clears throat] that >> well you could frame the vote as conditionless is unanimous. I don't believe there's anything wrong with adding that condition to it as long as it's understood. >> Hey So it's Do I have that motion? Anybody going to make it? >> I will move to go ahead with it as long as it is a unanimous [clears throat] vote. >> I'll second it. >> Any more discussion? Any more discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Same sign. I >> and we don't have a unanimous decision. So I guess it dies. >> Okay. On to the next. This is part of the meeting that is open to the public. Meaning it's a public meeting. That means you can
032ask me questions. So truth in taxation if you would hit the button it says webinar because uh MA provided the template. >> So this will be so school budgets actually operate in like three years. So you have like um we're reconciling budgets from last year's and then we're proposing budgets for this year and then the levy is actually for revenue in the following year because we like to keep it simple. [laughter] We go next slide please. Um so I'm going to this is the agenda. I'm going to go through it as slow or as fast as people would like. So big picture, property, classifications, um factors affecting putting it all together. Next slide. >> So >> that's why we're here. That's the big picture, kids. Next slide. So why you have a truth to taxation
033meeting law passed in 1989. You can see the Minnesota statute up there. Two major requirements. Stat tax statements. counties send out their proposed sta tax statements. Most of you should all have received that. If you haven't, it got lost in the mail and then we have to hold this public hearing um so that public can ask comments or provide input on budgets. And this slideshow is in the board book. So if you want to go back and read the slides, I will spare you that. Next slide, please. Who sets the school levy? um it's set by a state formula. So there's different levies and some of them are based on the number of pupils or different factors. So school districts can levy so much depending on that and then we get aid some or mix
034between aid and levy and um then there's your voter approved like bond referendums and building referendums. Next slide. Um how is your uh property tax determined? It is not determined by the school district. That is your county assessor. Um they take a look at your property and that uh value can go up or down. And there's actually two tax calculations. So we're the only government entity that has both um mark uh referendum market value and net tax capacity. net uh net tax capacity um has to do with property classifications. Thank you. Um [clears throat] this is where you our uh funds come from. So you can see how that breaks out. Next slide. This is the inflation. So the the orange dotted line is school funding and then the blue one is inflation. So this
035is the one produced by Ellers that can let you know why budgets are getting tight. Um and this one shows like um the non-school government how tax levies are going there versus schools. And again you can see there's much diff. So this is ours. Um if we went off the adopted budget, our revenues, our expenses, and the net, we will have a revision early in 2026. Um when you have the audit, you'll see that um we netted a positive, uh roughly about $500,000. So, um and the reason for that was that we had underestimated pupil units because our pupil units ended up better than expected and so we get a lot more revenue there. [clears throat] Um, and we have to make some adjustments here in construction and debt service because we've had the HVAC
036project and the turf. So, any questions on this slide? All right, let's keep rolling then. So, school year's budget, um, anticipate the general education aid to be about 10.5% local levy and 89.5% state aid. To give you an idea, uh we're very much we get most of our funding from the state and then next local. There's really no major changes in the budget from last year as we don't have any big projects. Hopefully, we take a break from that for a while. So, next slide. This is what your property tax statement looks like. Where it's circled in the bottom with the yellow, that percentage is all the entities on there. So you have your county, um your city, and each of them have their own truth in taxation. And if you want to figure out
037why you have that percentage at the bottom, you have to go to all of them. Um so again, check your market classification, your taxable value, and if you disagree with some of this stuff, you should watch for a statement in the spring. [snorts] You go on next. There you go. So this is kind of like what the state's average division of uh tax rates for u this is for net tax capacity. So that is a calculation. So you can see how it varies depending on the um value of your property. Next slide. So this is your share. This this first one is what is typical in the state to see. And we'll just keep on rolling to the next one cuz that is our county prepared by Ellers. So depending on the levy and you
038can see some notes on the bottom. The referendum market value u 59.6% of that revenue comes from residential homesteads. But if we're talking net capa tax capacity only 34% and you can see how that changes um because um when you're talking about referendum market value um you have the a credit and then um some types of a prop property are excluded. So that's some of the reasons it goes like that. Any questions on that? All right. A to school. Um it was a law in 2017 and what it was done why it's in place is to help make it easier for rural districts to pass levies. Um qualifying properties the state picks up 70%. So, like when we did the um um health and safety or when we did the uh abatement bonds and some
039of the other bonds, some of those uh or I mean the long-term facility maintenance, some of those a properties qualified for this egg credit. So, they actually received more state aid and actually would have reduced their taxes on that amount. And you can read the rest of it. So, this is a tax statement um that comes like if you go on the back side of it, this is what where you might be able to see if you get a egg credit. Okay. And then the um MA provides a lot of these fun interactive um maps and you can find them on their website. Um, I believe the links will work in the slide, but this one is for how much money our district gets or well I should say our patrons get for the a
040to school 48,000. Um, though the median is quite a bit higher. So, um, we do get some but not as much as some rur rural districts. >> Thank you. Um, Lor is local optional revenue and this is just showing how that breaks out between Eddie levy and aid as um that depends on the property wealth and so you can take a look at that and see how we compare. And then on our operating levy that's all levy there's no state aid on that. So, these are just different things you can check on your tax statement to see why um you might have changes in your property value. Anybody want me to go into detail on any of that? Okay, let's just keep going. Referendum picture. This is how much we get per pupil. Our district
041gets $458 and then the average for the districts in Minnesota is 513. And the upper end of the referendum is $1,025 per student, which is you tend to see those amounts more in the city's area because they have such a wide tax base. And then this one is operating referendum and LR. So our referendum market value um per residential pupil unit. You can see we're actually slightly above average on this one, but pretty close to the mean. And we can keep going. Long-term facility maintenance. Uh we have the big HVAC project and we did the track field and turf. Our track field and turf was paid for by a combination of long-term facility maintenance bonds, which is stuff we already leveed for, but then we bonded and we reinvested some of that. And then we
042also did the capital lease levy which was the additional levy on that last year. And then the HVAC project. Thank you. [laughter] Did a good job. >> This slide if you go it'll compare our taxes to the neighboring as you can see that uh we're on the lower end. Believe it's just little falls that has less. And you can see this is a great little graphic. It'll show how it breaks out. All right. This is I'll get more into this when I do the proposed levy but the these are the amounts I show the increases from last year. Um for a total of 7.2% but uh most of that in that increase is largely from um increase in pupil units and taxable valuations. So um we're not increasing what we're asking for on any particular
043levy. And from our proposed statement, you'll see later that we'll be asking less for in school age child care. If you want more information, this is the correct person asked why my property taxes what it is. Um, and then my contact information and Sherry's. Um, have you do the next slide? Questions? >> It It all comes down to how much we get. It's headcount, isn't it? >> It's mostly headcount. Yes. Um, yeah. Like the increase in market value doesn't mean that the school district gets more money. It just mean it's used to figure out who pays for what. >> Pays what. We're more based on number of seats. Uh butts and seats as they say it over to the mo most important person here. >> You're welcome. Welcome. >> I can hand those out if
044you want. breathing. >> Oh, I'm wondering. [laughter] >> You never know, right? mix one is a management letter and then one is financial >> state we had at the end to read through that the same after >> the high points >> perfect >> but you can read through it later at your leisure >> it's a great nighttime reading right >> yes exactly >> all right I'm Caroline Stzman I'm the partner involved in your audit. So, I'd like to take a few minutes of your time tonight to go through the results of that audit. Um, not sure who's advancing for me. Are are you doing that? Okay. Um, you can go ahead to the next couple of where the Yep. Perfect. Um, so the main reason you ask us to work with you is to provide
045an opinion on your financial statements. That opinion is housed within the independent auditor's report. Within the independent auditor's report, both management's responsibility as well as our responsibility is outlined. And management's responsibility is for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in accordance with GAAP. Really what that means is they are responsible for determining the numbers. Then our job is to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free of material in the statement the audit essentially. Um reasonable reasonable assurance not absolute meaning we're not looking at every single transaction or would we would be in the district's hair much longer than we already are. Um so we are sampling, we are recalculating, we are um testing things just not every transaction. Um the opinion that we're providing, it's called an unmodified opinion. The
046highest level that you can receive, not a change from previous years, meaning we do believe those financial statements are fairly stated in all material respects as of June 30th, 2025. In addition to looking at the numbers, we also conducted our audit in accordance with government auditing standards. that requires us to consider internal controls as we go throughout our process. So, one item of note there, it's one we've discussed in previous years as well. It's lack of segregation of accounting duties um just inherently present for you with the duties that over overlap based on the staffing that you currently have. Very common for you um for the um a district of your size to have that. We also conducted a single audit or an audit in accordance with uniform guidance. This is triggered when um federal
047expenditures are over a certain threshold. The program that we tested was child nutrition. This year we did not have any findings related to that. And one final component before we dig into the financial analysis is in regards to Minnesota legal compliance. The office of the state auditor compiles a number of Minnesota state statutes within some checklists for us to ask questions about. We did not have any findings related to any of that either. Go one more. Okay. Go. So, with general education aid being the largest funding source for you as a school district in the state of Minnesota, we start off looking at the two main drivers of that aid, which is formula allowance and pupil units. So, here we have formula allowance where it's been over the last 10 years, showing the the um
048percentage increases, what we know currently based on legislature for 2026, but focusing on that 2025 line and the 2% increase that was received this year. And then we have pupil units next. And we begin with your resident ADM. So these are only the students living within your district. And for 2025, resident ADM increased by 40. And all of the grade levels as they are presented here contributed to that increase. And next, if we apply the waiting factors that are the at the top of this slide, as well as take into consideration open enrollment, we arrive at total PUN. This is the amount that you're paid off of from the state. So that top resident line is what we just looked at with those waiting factors applied to it. So similar story, an increase there. And
049then the next two lines are the impact of open enrollment. So for 2024, the net impact of those two lines is a loss of 363 compared to a loss of 408 in 2025. So net impact there is a loss of about 45. So at the end of the day, total PUN decreased by three. So again, this is the amount that you're paid off of from the state. This chart just shows that information for the five years um in percentage form for you to see. And then we shift gears to um the actual dollars in the general fund. So we start here with total sources of revenue. Total revenue increased about 1.3% some fluctuation between the um categories as we see them presented there. property taxes decreased, the decrease in the levy, state aids increased, the
050formula allowance was a component of that as well as an increase in special education entitlement. And then other is everything else. Um this is where your federal dollars are. So the main change here is driven by the um the reduction of the COVID funding this year as that kind of got um all used up. So that was the main change in that category. The next slide looks at general fund expenditures in a pie chart format here. In total expenditures increase about 9.2%. Some of the fluctuations if we'd look at them from a, you know, dollars standpoint and then I'll circle back to the percentage standpoint. Regular instruction did increase. There was an increase in personnel costs as well as supply costs. And then special education and pupil support also increased as a result of personnel
051costs. and then administration increased with the addition of the interim superintendent during the year. So when we look at the percentages many of the fluctuations are you know in that 1 to 2% range um pretty similar and most of those changes are the reasons that I just touched on. Another way to look at or another component or way to look at this data is to look at the instruction components which would be the regular instruction, vocational instruction and special education instruction. Those combined together are 65% of the funds expenditures which is in line with the guidance that's provided here. We have a budget to actual snapshot. The first two columns are the approved budgets. The original budget is in the first column. There were some amendments made to that with the final budget being in
052the second column. Anticipating fund balance would decrease by right around 200,000. Actual results are in the third column showing the increase of just over 500,000. When we look at the variance column for explanations, we see total revenue there is over budget about 677,000. If we apply a percentage to that, it's 3.9%. The majority of that being in the state sources. Um the main reason for that were the formula allowance increase as well as special education. and special education can really kind of swing um and it's one of those moving targets at the state quite often. So it is common to kind of see that. Um the other this is where items can also be somewhat volatile. For example, your interest income is uh that's based on market value at that you know on one day
053June 30th. So that can fluctuate as well. So really um improved market conditions as well as conservative budgeting for those types of items is um a pretty common theme as well. Total expenditures following the chart down we see under budget there again if we apply a percentage to that at 0.2%. So considering the size of budget that you're working with there um that's about as close as you can get I think. So nice job there. Um, and on the state revenue, I know our our student numbers ended up better than we anticipated. >> Okay. >> All right. Here we pulled a general fund all together. We've [clears throat] touched on a lot that's in the top already as far as the revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balance. So, here we see where total fund
054balance ended for the year, just under 8.9 million. There's a component of that that's titled non-spendable. This is for items like prepaids or if you have inventory in here. Think of it as the dollars have left the building, you can't use that for future operations. So, it's separated into its own category. Then there are a number of restricted components. These are all of those statemandated funding sources where you have to spend those dollars in accordance with how you received them. That component or all of those cumulatively together increased by 245,000 for the year. The committed, this is more for um compensated absences or severance type items that increase. There was a new Gazsby standard that was implemented implemented this year that kind of changed the valuation of all of that. So that's the reason for
055the increase that you're seeing there. And then that leaves you with unassigned which is what's available for future operations without any of those earmarks or tags that we mentioned previously associated with them. So that balance decreased by about 83,000 for the year. And um that's also the balance that you compare for your fund balance policy. Your fund balance policy indicates that you would strive to have an unassigned fund balance of 15% of the district's operating budget. If you run the calculation for this year, you're at 34.8% of the budget. So, you are in compliance with the policy you've established for yourselves. This is yet another way to look at fund balance. So, what I the percentage I just touched on is strictly unassigned um fund balance and all expenditures. This drills a little bit deeper
056um and looks at unrestricted fund balance as a percentage of unrestricted expenditures. This is the SOD calculation. MDE calculates it because like I said, it gets pretty detailed um to those specific expenditures, but it's a way for you to um compare to some state average information and analyze over the five years. So seeing a slight decrease in 2025 and higher than um the total for all traditional districts together. The last two slides that we have look at your special revenue funds. We start here with food service. Pretty consistent operations in 2025 compared to the previous year. Less than 1% change and at the end of the day fund balance was at about 582,000 for the year. That's been a pretty common theme across the state as well. Um that that fund balance is in that
057same sort of position. Community service fund is the last slide that we have. Um revenues did exceed expenditures this year for the first time that we're seeing in the five years that we're presenting here. Um so fund balance increased to 142,000. Revenues increased. there was an increase in the levy as well as um an allocation of a portion of the basic skills dollars over here to help with the or to cover the early childhood um components that you have and then expenditures decreased with a decrease in personnel costs. At the bottom of the chart here we show um the components of that fund balance. So showing the improvement in each of those categories and school readiness um mostly the improvement there with with the application of those basic skills dollars helping that. [snorts] I'd be
058happy to take any questions you might have for me in this snapshot of our finances on when? >> On June 30th. >> June 30th. >> Yep. I'm I'm wondering still there's always this segregation of duties and you hear that every year. >> Yeah. um how do we bring that so it's not like that because it sounded kind of harsh this time I thought and I really wanted to ask the question why if that's because of what's happening at the state level or there are some things in there kind of just in relation to some journal entries and things like that which really the controls are the stem of you know the cause of some of those so that's why you're probably seeing a little bit of additional items were in the wording this year Um,
059I would say, you know, it's eyes on things is really the best way to help with that and however you see fit in trying to do that. Um, eyes that kind of will know as well what kind of is going on. So, there's always room to get, you know, more sets of eyes on things, but you also probably won't completely reduce it to non-existent. cuz I will tell you I don't all of the audits that I work on majority have it in some shape or form. >> I just thought it was so harsh this year and I just thought I would ask >> Yeah. Yeah. >> there were just a few additional um adjustments needed this year. So it's kind of roped into there instead of having separate findings if that helps to identify that.
060someone probably eyes on what's happening. >> Well, that's always a helpful process. I would say it's a big task. There's a lot. There's a lot. So, more I can expand on are unrestricted fund balances just what they say. They can be used for just about anything. >> So, unrestricted is everything but that restricted component. So, it's your non-spendable, your committed balance, if you were to do internally assigned items, and then unassigned. So, if you've got committed amounts, you've kind of already committed those. The non-spendable I mentioned that's already you've paid. So, there's portions of those things that I'd say have earmarks attached to them. And then there's the unassigned portion that's left kind of for all of the other future things. Would you say the amount of eyes we have on our budget is similar
061to districts our size? >> Yes. >> It's a challenge that is faced for districts of your size. For sure. >> Is appreciated working with you. >> Um we uh got information to you and so uh we found that to be a pleasure pleasurable experience. >> Yes. Yes. quick to get answers. So, that's always helpful in our process. Did you have >> I have a question about the community service fund. >> Sure. >> Does that include a transfer from the general fund to to bring that? >> Not over the years that we've had here >> over the five years we've presented. I don't recall going back. Sometimes [snorts] in some districts we see that. Um, in this case it was that that was not part of it. >> So all in all, we get like a
062B plus. >> I don't know if I'm a greater [laughter] teacher by trade. Um, you've got an unmodified opinion. That's the highest level that I can give you. Um, and so I guess if you look at it from that perspective, it's the highest level that you can can receive if that helps. >> We may be a roll. >> Want to thank you for coming tonight and thank you for coming and doing the audit. >> Absolutely. >> Big job. >> Absolutely. And thank you for all the preparation. We are a distraction. I know. So appreciate all the work that goes into it. >> Thank you. Do we need a motion to approve the >> I think it's >> it is we have it on the agenda later. >> All right. Thank you again. Thanks for doing
063the truth and taxation thing, too. I just [snorts] >> I'm safe on the way home. >> Thank you. >> I will try [laughter] new business. Then we start with the donations by your list again. Long Prairie Packing American Foods Group gave $100 to the third grade service learning project. Ark Electric gave $100 to the third grade service learning. Fitz Electric gave $100 to the third grade service learning. Elixon's gave $50 to the third grade service learning. $500 from 110 Coffee for the wait room fundraiser. American Legion Post 12 gave $100 to the PBIS. Astro Air Incorporated from Boington Beach, Florida, gave $1,000 to the Kyle Goth scholarship. >> Kylie Kylie. >> Oh, Kylie. Okay. Coburn's gave $250 to the ProStart Culinary Arts Country Cruisers Car Club gave um tire changer value of $1,500 and a
064tire balancer value at $1,800. and two air hose reels for the CTE programs. Thank you very much. Mural Feling gave for the metal and delivery from a car club a metal shop thing. So they were part of that. Fidelity Charitable Angela Hayes gave $50 to the drama department. American Foods Group gave $75 to the secondary student activity day. Quinn Livven and Hughes PA gave $100 to the secondary student activity day. Uh Steve Neville gave $500 for the secondary student activity day. John W John Whis Ford gave $50 to the secondary student activity day. Minnesota National Bank gave $50 to the student secondary student activity day. Brightenfeld Group gave $75 to the secondary student activity day. Jurgen and Luan Bronhorse gave $100 to buy gift cards for the PBIS Thunder Awards and Jurgen and Luan Brunkor
065gave $100 to the wait room fundraisers. I will need a motion to accept those donations. >> Motion second, >> Chuck and Lori. Any discussion on that? We >> appreciate it. >> We absolutely do appreciate that. Any further discussion or comments? Any further discussion or comments? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. Okay. You going to talk more about the levy? >> Yeah. So, in the board packet, there's an executive summary and you can see the the levy totals as they go out through the years. Um and quick note down here you'll see like um it'll start higher and then go lower. Um and that's uh 2016 2017 and that was a year when the state start kicking in a higher portion. So like increases in levy do not correlate oneonone
066with increases in our actual revenue because um actually our levy for example um in in here I mentioned that um we have a few and largely it's called equity revenue or equalizing factor um where our portion of local versus state is higher local but overall the increase in the amount that we're asking for 7.2%. What I'm recommending is that uh we certify the levy at the maximum except for school age child care which I would recommend at 20,000 as that should cover our expenses that are applicable to that. And if you look here I've added percentages so you can see how much the referendum market value went up. 9.1% net tax capacity 8.6% market value 8.8%. So and the prior year levy amount next year's levy amount happy to answer any questions a motion to
067do that. I'll make a motion to approve the levy with the change as recommended by superintendent Lixon to the school aged care. >> I need a second. >> I'll second it. >> Do we have any further discussion on that? Any questions? You have to remember that 200,000 for the school age care was a mistake by the county and that's what messed us up last year. Was it the year before too? >> Yeah. >> And so we're getting that straightened out now. So that explains a lot of why that one is what it is. >> Any further discussion or questions? Any further discussion or questions? All those in favor say I. I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. >> Okay, now we're on to the audit. >> Yep. >> Same thing there. >> I'd make a motion to
068approve the audit for the 25 >> 25 school year. >> This school year. >> I'll second it. Tom, Lori, and Tom, any questions? >> I just like to say congrats to the district office staff. >> Thank you to the staff for the making that all work. It's a lot of work. Any more questions, discussion? Any more [snorts] questions or discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. opposed. Motion carries. Now I think we're trying to sell something. Mr. Leonson, would you explain? >> Yeah. Um, so I've been talking to some of our different staff mainly around we have a tractor and a van that you guys have approved for sale, but you know, what's the best way to do that? And as Jenny's been helping collect the value on those things, but uh we
069started kicking around the [clears throat] idea and the custodians that uh maybe it would be better to hold an auction where we have these items and then we have like welders at the high school. Um I spoke to Mr. said he'd have some interest on working with me and have the FFA maybe sponsor it and get a portion of it as we do have lots of stuff that could be getting rid of. Um, if we do go that route, it's probably more of a spring summer thing, but maybe one big auction is better than a whole bunch of little trying to do bids online is what we were thinking. >> Would you do a in-person auction or would you do it virtual? I would suggest in person. Um I think that um our ability to
070get some stuff together and address a larger amount of inventory items and possibly get some good prices on probably the more valuable items is the reason for my suggestion. Um, and mainly what I like I'm looking for right now is like if if this seems like a good direction, I'd probably work with our custodians on, you know, what kind of inventory we have because you'd have to prove everything that's for sale. Um, we have to u it's all public property. So, we can't uh just, you know, we have to run that by you guys as the board before any sales can happen and we have to do it. Like what the auctioning does is give all members of the public equal opportunity to purchase the item. Um, and I think it would pro probably accomplish
071more in one swoop than if we try to do a bunch of online or line bids. >> Would you be looking at using auction firm to do this? I'm assuming >> um working that detail out. I don't have a specific in mind but like uh organizing something with an actual auctioneer for sure. >> Okay. Because doing something that is online with one of those auctioneers would be very beneficial. Um they will do live and online and then typically there's buyers premium >> connected with the online portion of that. Um the other thing is I know there is a large consignment sale. [snorts] They've been doing it every spring in sock center now for the you know the van the tractor possibly even the welders that we may get a better rate going and better prices
072>> going to something like that. >> Yeah that was the line of thinking so like if it is a direction of interest what I would do is collect more information. It sounds like you know a little bit so it might pick your brain the world. Yes. [laughter] >> I don't think I can option you >> um the extra turf that we have is in down in the concession stands available for um repairs and stuff. Um, I don't believe we sell. >> Start digging and start listing. >> What the hell? >> I never even advertised it for anything. So, we could never have sold anything. >> That's what I thought. >> I mean, they approved that you could sell some of it, but I never did do anything as far as getting it out there. I
073think the baseball team was asking you to use or the baseball >> association was asking use some of them. >> I think we're wait kind of waiting to determine what they were going to use before proceed to the sales I got from the meeting here. >> Were they looking for >> um >> I think for the battery we got >> and I don't know that we determined how much to save for repairs either. >> Right. He had brought that up in a meeting. He was here at a meeting and presented about doing that. So use it for our school before we do have an auction here on staff. >> Oh yeah, >> just somebody that um and there's some potential to use some of that turf with the um playground. to compare the turf insulation
074versus poured in place. >> Sure. >> And I cut off about $30,000 for the installation I just showed you guys. >> That would be smart to do that. >> That would make total sense. >> It's not just a not just a a shortcut to the transfer station, right? I mean, there's some stuff of value that we want to actually get rid of. >> Yeah. Because we have the tractor, the van, the welder. So there's there's things we have of some value which I think would be the >> have a lot of Chromebooks. >> Lot of Chromebooks. >> Yep. >> Yeah. [snorts] >> And if it wasn't for those items, I wouldn't suggest this, but like those larger items, I think might bring people in to look at these other things. >> I don't think that
075you would necessarily get like a lot from selling a bunch of little things around the school because I think most people would want, you know, steal. But um we do have a a lack of space and storage and that some of that storage is occupied by items we really don't need. >> So what are you looking for from us? um a if this is a like more of a consensus this time because then because then I can go get more information because this would probably take some planning and bringing back like these are items we've identified like before I put the curve before the horse really like there's no sense to do a whole bunch of leg work and find out >> what do you think boards >> I think if we've got items we
076need to that we aren't losing we should get because I know that there's a need for a equipment at this building for promoting stuff. >> Yes. Yes, there is. >> So, >> and there's no sense to hang on to this stuff until it's worthless. Worthless, >> right? >> I think you have permission consensus to go ahead and get the job done. Correct. >> Yeah. >> All right. >> And you got you're on board for adding MLL position, too. Okay. So, I've modified the way I worded that on the agenda a little bit. And I spoke to Mrs. Larson and she visited with her department. And so, at this point, I mainly want to discuss it because um as I pointed out in the board book, if you went back to 2020 to now, the number
077has basically doubled and our number of staffing has not doubled as you know. Um but in visiting with Mrs. Larson, we do want to take some time as an administration to think about like what the best solution looks like. And so, um, rather than immediately come to you guys and ask for an opening, which one of the main reasons I was thinking about at the time was maybe grab a mid-year graduate, but like to put some more thought on what that might look like. Uh, for example, Mrs. Shabu was telling me that um there's um at least one teacher working with one of the MLL teachers on a team teaching approach this year and maybe we need to look a little bit more because like um 40 roughly 40% of our students are ML. So
078um perhaps there's some adjustments we need to how we structure things to get more bang for the buck as well. I do want questions and I gave you that data and things you may wonder and we have Mrs. Larson here in the audience. She does an excellent job. >> How many staff do you have right now in each building? >> At the secondary school, we have two full-time staff and then I am over there for one period a day. And then at the elementary, we have three full-time ESL teachers and I teach for approximately six hours of the day at the elementary. So roughly five and a half teachers. And like one of the interesting things when we visited was that like they actually recommend a high high a lower teacher to student ratio at
079the secondary level and we got talking that has something to do with how differences between elementary and secondary. So want to do a little bit more looking at the need. But like I I'd love questions or things you'd wonder or what you would need to know. Um, I do think this is still going to be a question I bring back to you because um, just the number of students that we have that the percentage of our students that qualify as English language learners is almost 50%. So, >> would we get some funding for that or are we getting funding for that? >> Yes. Um, we don't get them for every single ML student, but um, there's a report on the enrollment report. you'll see uh numbers on the bottom. And so there is a certain
080amount of revenue [snorts] that we get per student that qualifies and that includes the St. Mary's and um there's a formula for our early childhood as well. I might check I might have the explanation on our website as far as how that funding breaks out. But yes, we get funding for to provide those services. Are we sending a teacher right now to St. Mary's then for part of the day? >> Yes, we do. Um I believe it's for I could double check the schedule for about two and a half hours >> on the day as Mr. Evenson stated when a non-public school requests those title funds, we have to provide an equitable program which means K through six at the St. Mary's school and then um an equitable amount of per grade level as we
081do here at the elementary. So how that how that is paid for is through two sources that we get money per per unit for for that we service and then we also get money through title three. Title three is specifically for kids with English with second language learner um issues. So they have that um uh there's a little bit of money that goes with that. So they use that to pay for um some interpreter and part of the person that goes over there and some of the curriculum that is used. >> And if you want some deeper information, if you go to the boards on our website, there's stuff on LTFM equalization funding which we'll talk about. there is an amount um that we get and this goes into it as far as like 1,223
082the number but there's several calculations because there's a concentration um okay and then there's a part that goes through basic skills so a percent of our basic skills is reserved for PLLL funding and we do have a cross subsidy which I don't believe is in this article because I think that was added after I wrote it. So, but if you want more of a detailed explanation, you can go to our website. >> And Lisa, this kind of answers your question when you asked about community ed and a fund transfer. It's not considered a fund transfer because we have so many students in that preschool level in EL. It's an allowable expenditure to use basic skills dollars to provide that service to those kids. So that's what we did was use um that basic skills money,
083okay, >> that you gain from having the EL students in the classroom to fund the little ones in that in that preschool area. >> Um the last time I did the math on this, um a yellow produces approximately, and this depends on classification, different things, 1,664 students per dollars per student. But like there's a bigger fuller explanation than the rest of that. So >> what's the average each teacher has? >> Um I was going to and I was going to ask if I can [laughter] make a comment if anybody would like information uh comparable numbers of student toteer ratio. Currently um at the elementary we have two teachers who are uh one teacher to 85 students and that's every day that they see. Uh my numbers I think are 34 I think one is 58
084so that would cover us here at the high school it's 1 to 76 >> and so >> we're very high there is no specific ratio according to MDE what they suggest is at the elementary 1 to 45 and 1 to 30 at the high school the only The other school that I received information from is in St. James. They have comparable numbers to us. The other schools are typically 1 to 40. Um there is like 1 to 50 and so we have a lot of students. >> So with that, how many kids are you seeing at a time right with you and for how long? >> Yes. So at the elementary our program and just to let you all know this is all put in our program model on our website the language instruction educational
085plan and so that is all stated out what we do specifically for our school as well. And so at the elementary they are halfhour blocks and we stool uh we do a pull out model meaning we walk to the classroom we take the students with us. um early learners, the ECSE is only an indirect. So we do not take them out of their classroom. So K through six uh we have groups of I think our smallest group is seven up to 13 at one time. And then um at the high school they have class periods of 48 minutes and they're I believe their smallest class size is eight or 10 I'm not specific on the numbers um up to 26 in class. So, um, speaking to her on our website, if you go to district
086multilingual learners, which is up here, district info, sorry, multilingual learners, you can see the entrance ex entrance exit flowchart [cough and clears throat] to see how students enter and exit as well as that language instruction plan that she referred to in both um, English and Spanish. So, [snorts] you ever want to know where to look it up? There you go. >> Are we providing our information to the other languages that are spoken in our community right now? >> I can I answer that? I should ask permission first. So, Tanya, yes. And so when our families come into either school building, we actually have a sign that asks their preferred language and there is maybe [clears throat] 20 to 25 languages. And currently in our school, we have English, Spanish, Haitian, Crayola are the dominant languages.
087And so a parent can come and point to what their preferred uh spoken language is. And so to register their students, I believe that we have all the paperwork in those three languages for our families. And we even have um the home language services which is which is what deans how to um enter and exit our students as well. So the majority of our paperwork is in our school done in the three languages. >> Okay. Yeah. Well, Mitchell, if you don't mind, you are working on some resources for offices to help with translating as well. >> Correct. >> Share. >> Yes. Um, we have some uh we have some phones and tablets that we're able to um make phone calls with to parents if somebody can't translate. And uh we also have we use the
088Gemini app which does a uh full conversation language translate translation through AI. and you could pick any language pretty much. So, those are the those are the ones we have right now. So, we're we're working on it. Plus, we have a service called Languagers that um there's any just about any language you can think of that's on there. We we make a phone call to them and then there's a live person that we can communicate with um to do the translation. Um that one is spendy, but we use it when we need to. So yeah, [snorts] >> let me question. >> Well, I was going to say I used the translation service for conferences this first time um these fall conferences and it was phenomenal. Our school staff had it set up so that each
089secondary teacher for these students. We all kind of like lined up and we were in line just to cut down on the downtime, but it worked phenomenal for our families that are not English or Spanish. >> Good. Good. Any other questions? It's great to have a question. >> So, we're just discussing this now and we'll you'll come back after you get more information for us to >> Yeah. because um we haven't formulated a recommendation yet, >> but [snorts] um I still thought it was important to bring the information so you're aware that we have these high numbers and that there's these needs here. And um so I had asked the MLL department for their input and after visiting with them felt like just providing the information was the right amount. >> Okay. >> It's difficult
090to find people that are professionals in that area. So that's probably toughest part. >> Yes. >> Are you interested? >> I'm not that multi-ingual. [laughter] I can name objects. That's it. I would >> there seems to be a need there. Um >> justify it. Uh I'm not crazy about adding additional staff, of course, but uh >> put a dollar amount on it, too. Well, it not only affects how they live and work in our community, but if we want to get down to brass tax, if we get them to read and write correctly, our MCAs should go up. >> I mean, that's just one. And an important thing to note with that is a lot of our Spanish speaking families are from other countries because they're not all from other countries, but like not all
091their families are proficient in reading in their native language. >> And those who are proficient in reading in their native language learn to read English quicker because they already have that skill. So those so some of our families have that difficulty overcome where there's just maybe a lack of literacy. >> Okay. Any other questions, comments? >> Gosh, I have a question and and it it is somebody that doesn't speak um but they have sent their kids walking. How many was due to send out cuz I got like five and they didn't get them. They thought school was the school was cancelled. So I know that's a little off but but they're not English speakers. So um they have their kids start language >> I'm not sure. >> We do send all the messages out in
092multiple languages. Parents takes care of that. and you're getting >> so as long as they have their phone number registered with us, >> they should have got to do it. >> Okay. And I don't know why, but um I've seen them early and they just >> I should just mention that's another thing that we have for translation and it all messages are sent in the native language automatically. Okay. And then the teachers can communicate with the students using chat and it automatically translates for them too. >> Wonderful. That'd be great. >> For them before they start walk because they're walking earlier than what they're getting. >> We just need to know who they are and they just need to register. >> Okay. >> Make sure the phone number is correct. The text to voice doesn't
093translate to Haitian creole, but the text to text and emails and stuff because it doesn't really have that capacity but does translate in other ways. Okay, another job for you. >> Um, next one. Advertising for the sale of that piece of property in Birchdale Township. >> I guess I learned a little bit more. >> It is in Grey Eagle, by the way. >> Yes, I guess you don't have to advertise for sale per se. I do have a resolution I wrapped in Rest here in town. Um Danny has it. Um or is it is it in the board packet? >> No, you told me not to. >> Okay. Um >> I have one draft though. >> We could just hand um cuz I had to work on this because I didn't have an example of
094it. But what it does is the resolution is just to authorize basically negotiating because you would still need a purchase agreement, but it's for this parcel of land identified there. Um, I had a patron who owns the land around it originally reach out. They are willing to do like a purchase agreement and a different paperwork. They want to offer the market value for it, which if they're willing to do the legal leg work, one of the people I spoke to is that's a fair deal. However, you guys have to decide you want to put ad on your paper saying that we're taking proposals for this. Um, the sale of property is not governed by the bid law. So, it's a little different. Um, >> you guys might know the expectations of Republic to a degree.
095>> Yeah, it's uh purchase agreement still have drawn out to brought back. It's like this isn't >> sellers. Yeah. So, >> was that part of the school over there or is it a >> It was a country school there that was abandoned >> and it was not dated property. I spent an hour on the phone with the camera >> and Todd County didn't find it till about 10 years ago. >> We didn't pay it for the first 20ome years I worked here and then all of a sudden they found it. [laughter] >> And if you if he wouldn't have looked back, he just bought this property. And if he wouldn't have looked back to the 60s, he would >> he went he goes sits down with coffee and goes through the deed from when the
096deed was created. I I he called me to send me a text and I spend an hour on over an hour on the phone because I understand sections and quarter sections and quarters and quarters and all that garbage. >> It's my opinion is >> it's a really good deal for us. >> That's what I would say too. >> Where is this property? >> I'll find Brad Mcder. across the road from Grand Py right at the corner where the township road goes to the north. >> I say isn't there a road there in a turkey or >> part of it is in the road? >> Okay. >> Part of it's in the and most of it's in the swamp. >> You can put a kayak in there. >> Tom, how how much is it? How many
097acres or >> It's one acre. >> Oh, just one acre. >> Y landlocked. one acre, two or >> Oh, it's not landlocked. It comes on road. Okay. >> Plus, we pay a on it every year. >> We're paying taxes on it as a school district. So, we're going to not we're going to collect the taxes instead of paying the taxes. >> Yeah. >> And he's going to pay assessed value on it to me is >> what's it worth? Nothing. >> To me, it's the assessed value is >> okay. And uh >> I think he's doing all the >> he'll do he'll do everything for it. >> Pay for the whole thing. >> Did he verify that he was paying that? Because that's not what he had told us. >> That's what he told me. >>
098That's what I >> that he'd pay for it. [clears throat] >> Well, yes, he would pay for everything. However, he did not he was not on board with the 5,000. >> That's what he told me on the phone. >> Okay. Well, he pays us. Yeah, >> if he pays close to that >> to me it's to me it's not worth half that. So, >> and that's all that he told us he was willing to give when he came originally. So, I really don't know. >> Well, if he'd pay half that to me, we're farther ahead, >> right? I agree. I just didn't know if he changed his >> he told me assess value the day I talked to him. No, thank you. I don't think so. I'm pretty sure it's worth >> cuz I was
099like this. This is our >> He's explain why we just don't sell it to you and get it over. >> I guess if if you're willing to pass resolution, what the resolution does >> is allow me to negotiate the property. >> Here you go. If you want some good reading, >> the chair and the clerk can sign on paperwork if necessary. >> That's good with everybody. >> That's goes with it. >> Do we need do we have to have a motion on it? >> Yeah, you have to pass a resolution. >> I move to proceed with the sale of this property. >> I will second that. >> Resolution authorizing the sale of surplus real. Okay, we have a motion and a second to let Daniel negotiate money on this >> and to get the job
100done. >> Any discussion? >> I think he can handle that. >> He's with Mr. Krueger and Krueger has done all the property sales before when I was chair with Mr. Kringan I had to go to his office and whatever property we were selling. So I think Krueger is very familiar with >> Yeah. >> our stuff. Yeah. >> So again any questions or further discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. Did we do that yet? No. Yes, we did. Did >> we do the the motion to for the polling places? >> No, we did not. >> Okay, we're back to that one. I thought we did it. >> No, we added it. >> Okay, then we need to just talk about this resolution for the polling places. that if we happen
101to require a special election, then we could combine the polling places into one spot instead of going all the other different polling places that we have. >> Correct. >> Y and we do it >> because if there was a reason they come up later, we can't go back and have a vote later. So, we have to do it now. I have a motion to approve the resolution combining polling places. >> I will second it. >> Okay. Any further discussion? Any more questions or discussion? Any more questions and discussion on combined polling places? All those in favor say I. I >> opposed. Motion carries there. >> All right. Now we are going to go into a closed session. I believe superintendent midterm evaluation. We're going to close the session pursuant to the Minnesota statuses 13D.05. [snorts]
102So, if you folks want to hit hallways for a little bit while we do this thing, we'll bring it back into