Welcome to the December 15, 2025 Independent School District 152 schoolboard meeting. It is 6 pm. I'll be calling this meeting to order. I'll start on my right. >> Bjorkland present. >> Steph present. Mark present. present.
>> Ballard present. >> Thank you. And please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. >> Item C, approve of agenda. Dr. Lynn, there are no changes. Uh recommend approval. >> Cassidy. >> I move to approve the meeting agenda as presented. >> Thank you. >> Lee, >> I'll second. >> Have a motion by Cassidy, second by
Laura Lee. Move to approve the agenda as presented. Any further discussion from the board? >> Seeing none. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Those opposed, same sign. And that motion carries. Item E, we are proud.
This is a time during the meeting we as a board get to out recognize outstanding achievements of students, staff and community members. After an honor's name has been read, they'll come up, accept a certificate from us, and there'll be a photo taken and that'll be time for moms
and dads to come up and give photos or get photos also. So, please come forward to Brandon and myself and we'll hand out the certificates and Cassie will read off the we are prouds. We're proud of NHS athletes who competed
in the 25 um MHSL class 2A girls swimming and diving statement. Athletes include Matilda Ferguson, Casey Hansen, Ammani Heert, excuse me, Zoe Johnson, Mallerie McMillan, Grace Reut,
Adrienne Wilson, Macy Wilson, Olivia Wilson, Maddie Shu, and Whitney Shu. The 400 freestyle relay relay team of Olivia Wilson, Maddie Shu, Matilda Berdesen, and
Macy Wilson placed 10th. and the 200 IM medley relay team of Olivia Wilson, Maddie Shu, Ammani Eert, Macy Wilson. Place 15. The team is coached by Pat Anderson, Josh Starkweather, Josh Schneider, Carol Ocean, Cara Smith
Olsen, and Lindsay Bivo. One step. We are proud of the MHS boys football team who competed and took runner up in the 2025 Minnesota class 6A state football. athletes are
>> David Mack, Jameson Dunlap, Jet Feny, Gage Baky, Madison Sula, and as we read your name, you can come on up. Uh, Uitt, Tay Rich, Frasier Flanigan,
Zack Walker, Charlie Martin, Andrew Var, Abubakar Diatti, Hassan Abdel Zahara, Bai Okugus, Austin Dryberg, Mason Gross, Wyatt Michaelbust, Espen Band, Quinn
Henki, Jack Canu, Nick Steinert, Atina Manono, Lucas Hernandez, Preston Meers, Jared Pigeon, Marcus Kurin, Jack Ford, Parker Otos, Romeo
Chroma, Aaron Dineikar, Kellen Conrad, Emanuel Jibli, Riley Mir, Sam Nitell, Parker Mullen, Owen Brat Halt, Griffin Ogard, Reese Bull, Jeremiah Beia,
Sam Craig, Joseph Zuo, Yousef Arif, Austin Diggins, >> we're still rolling. Yeah. >> Elliot Caulkins, Peter Johnson, Genesis Kamar, Andy Arnson, Oliver Strong, Logan
Olsen, Ryland Stevenson, Evan Benedict, Isaac Perry, Riley Puin, Kai El Oh my gosh. Kai Elgendi, sorry. Kai,
Nathan Steinert, Nate Grrew, Sam Jacobson, Lennox Charlie, Jameson Packle, Julius Castle, Isaac Lavoy, Jacobe Ball, Steven Carlson, Mo Bachan, Aiden Struck, Logan Watkins, Drew
Bernicking, Sam Swanson, Ben Martin, Germaine Mccclure, Ammani Makuba, Nolan Holmes, Ethan Walen, Micah Zimmerman, Alex Ariano, Mo Nazarat, Micah Blake, Carter Shellquist, Anthony Jones, Bo Wolf,
Elvis Gay, Nehemiah Brown, Ibraham Abby, and Thomas Lawrence. Uh, and the coaches, uh, head coach Kevin Feny, and the much less important assistants, Brandon Yanni, Matt Anderson, John Pike,
Paul Craig, Jared Fuberberg, Tristan Nelson, Jacob Wesley, Eric Paul, David Amed, Nick Eldrid, Ursy Stenjum, David Canu, Derek Earles, Alex Moses, Riley Casease, and Ryan Jastro.
>> That's awesome. No. CONGRATULATIONS. Great job. Congratulations. Do three rolls minimum down. No Where you going? One
a picture. Disagree. right here. >> This works, buds. >> Yeah. I mean, look at that list of Awesome. >> It is good.
>> Thanks everyone for coming tonight for the real crowds. >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations. Moving on to item F, the public forum. We have anybody here for the public forum tonight, Deb? We do not. Thank you. Item two, the consent agenda. All items on the consent
agenda are considered to be routine and will be made available to the school board at least two days prior to the meeting. Items will be enacted by one resolution. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless the school board member so requests in which event that item will be removed from the agenda and considered under separate
resolution. To the extent possible, schoolboard member inquiries and consent agenda items are to be made directly to the district administration prior to the time of the item A. We have superintendent under superintendent we have number one approval of the November
24th, 2025 regular meeting minutes and close session minutes. Item B for business and administrative services. We have number one December claims, number two medical leave, number three change of contract, number four resignations,
number five new employees, and number six additional staffing requests. >> Dave, I'll move to approve the consent agenda as presented. >> Thank you, Laura Lee. >> I'll second. Have a motion by Dave, second by Laura Lee. Move to approve the consent agenda as presented. Any further
discussion from the board? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Those opposed, same sign. That motion carries. Item three, new business. Under A, we have the 2025 payable 20 property
tax levy presentation. Dr. D. >> Thank you. Who's sweet for doing that? Um so tonight we present uh taxes payable 2026 our tourism taxation um hearing and um also in this meeting we will allow for public comment and the
certification of the final levy. Um so um this presentation is pretty uh standard information. We will talk about um our budget. We will also talk about the levy and um what that entails. So, um, for the background information, um,
we're required to hold a public meeting between November 25th and December 29th. It has to be 6 p.m. or later. Has to be a part of the regularly scheduled meeting, allow for public comment. Um, and then we uh present the final levy for adoption tonight. Um, we will
present the current year budget. Um, and if we have specific questions, I do have Ken Wingenbach here um, who can help um, if needed, but I'll be handling the majority of the presentation tonight. Um and then our our proposed property tax levy. And so our agenda for tonight is
background information on school funding, um the district's budget, our district proposed tax levy uh for taxes payable 2026, and then the opportunity for public comment. Um so according to Minnesota Constitution, um our Minnesota
legislature sets funding for Minnesota public schools. So um the language is there. Um, I'll draw attention to the last line which is the legislature shall make provisions by taxation or otherwise as it will secure through a a thorough and efficient system of public schools
throughout the state. The state sets our formulas um that we obtain our revenue. Most revenue is based on specific amounts per pupil. They set tax policy for schools, local schools, maximum authorized property levy. And although the districts can
levy less um you cannot levy more unless authorized by your voters. Um we generally um have maximiz have have asked for authorization of uh the maximum levy. The state also authorized the school board to submit referendums for
operating and capital needs to voters for approval um as noted in unless approved by voters in November. Our general education formula allows uh this runs 2003 through 26. Um since 20 2002
through 2003 the state general ed education revenue formula has not kept pace with inflation. Um of course we this year have seen a lot um we've used this this slide quite uh frequently. Um for fiscal year 2425 an increase of 2%
or $143 over the previous year was approved. 2526 2.75% or 200 over the previous year was approved. So per people pupil allowance for fiscal year 2526 of 74.81 would need to increase by
another $1420 19% to have kept pace with inflation since that 2002 2003 year resulting in loans of what would be um $8,91. According to the Minnesota Department of Education, our 2024 cost of providing
programs um in special education were underfunded statewide by 503 million. Um and even with recent funding, costs will continue to be unfunded by 524 million by 2028. Um and as noted, there are primary options to bridge funding to cut regular
program budgets or increase referendum revenue. And districts of course have done both uh as Morehead has. um and budget information. So um approval of the district uh budget leg certification or tax levy um by six
months. States require only the current year budget information be presented at this hearing. So we have fiscal 2026 2027 budget adopted by the school board in June of 2026. Um and as noted there, the district's funds um a general fund, food service, community service,
building construction, debt service, in internal service, and the OPED trust, um which stands for the other postmployment benefits. So, um things like seance uh that the majority of the contracts do not have any longer,
but we do have uh money in that fund currently. Um and this I will make note there is an adjustment on this page um on the June 30th 2025 actual um as we've continued to work through the audit there uh was
numbers uh that were transposed differently. So I just want to make a note of that here um and so we had fiscal 2025 beginning on what was in the funds uh what was the balance of the funds. And so a total of all of our funds in fiscal 2025
um at the beginning was uh 41,248,318. Our 2425 actuals are noted in the two columns um to the right. And then our June 30th, 2025 actual for our fund balances um show our general fund um restricted and other food service
community service um with our total funds as uh 29,952,516 and then noted revenues and transfers in our 2025 26 budget expenditures and transfers out and then our projected fund balance um for June 30th, 2026.
And what does that look like? Um so our revenue of all of our funds are 25 26 140 million um 10,431 um majority of that is our general funded 84.9% food services 4%. Community service 1.9,
debt service 9.1, and that oped trust as you can note um is the smallest amount at.1%. Our general fund revenue um is majority state funded at 84.6, federal funding at 3.3%, local funding at 12% and then other
at.1%. by fund expenditures and object. Um not surprisingly, salary and wages are the majority of our um our expenditure. So if you just look at salary and wages at 16% and then employee benefits another 18.4% on top of that, uh purchase services at 12.6%,
supplies and materials at 5.3%, capital expenditures at 2.9% and then other8%. And then there's a breakdown um by program. Uh regular instruction at 42% uh vocational ed instruction 1.6 special ed
instruction at 22.6 um instructional support services 5.6 pupil support services 10.2% sites and buildings 10.6 other 6 administration 4.3% and district support services at
2.4%. So a change in tax levy does not determine a change in b in budget. A tax levy is based on state determined formulas plus voter approved referendums. Some increases in levies are revenue neutral offset by reductions in aid. And our expenditure budget is
limited by state set revenue formulas, voter approved levies, and the fund balance. And so an increase in school taxes does not always correlate to an increase in budget. And so if we look at um this slide we show every year school district and city
county difference in levy cycles. Our budget year for school district starts July 1st. Our 2026 taxes provide revenue for 2027 fiscal year and then our budget adopted um in June 2026. For the city and the county, the budget year begins
January 1st. 2026 taxes provide revenue for the 2026 calendar budget. So this is a sample um of a notice mailed to every property owner between November 10th and 25th. Every owner of taxable property pays property taxes uh to support various
taxing jurisdictions. So city, county, school districts, um special districts in which the property is located. Um each taxing jurisdiction owns the t the own tax levy based on limits and state laws. The county sends bills, collects
taxes for property owners, and distributes the funds back to other taxing um jurisdictions. So, as noted, each school district has limited authority to levy taxes. Uh the Minnesota Department of Ed calculates those levy amounts on various categories
set by state law and voter approval. Um and that document um that our levy statement is, you know, it's based on who we are. If then this happens, it's a long statement. Um when we show levy certification, um we show you the general certification of how much we can
levy based on all of those inputs that Cam and his team um provide. Um but that is how we um come to that amount. And then this is our school property tax process. And again, this doesn't change much from year to year. There's very few of these steps that we have control
over. um for certain levy categories, tax rates, levy amounts, um those are based on referendum market value rather than tax capacity. Um but if you look, step one, the assessor determines the market value of the parcel property. Legislature sets formulas for tax
capacity in school district limits. Step three, county auditor calculates that tax capacity for each parcel as well as the tax capacity for each school districts. Step four, Minnesota Department of Education um calculates that long detailed levy limits for each school district based on the formulas
approved by the legislature. And step five, the school district sets the levy and this is the only step in our process. So um when we talked previously about um you can't set over the maximum, but you can set under the maximum. That's where we have some control. Um,
and for us, we've always um asked that we uh do the max levy allowed um within that levy limitation dock. Step six, county auditor divides the final levy by district's total tax capacity to determine the tax rate needed um to raise that levy amount.
And then approval of the district's tax levy. Again, it is 2025 payable in 2026. um MBE prepares and distributes the first uh draft of that levy levy limit reporting um which sets maximum authority um that you can levy. On the
22nd, the school board approved um our proposed levy amounts. Mid November mailed the proposed property tax statements uh to all owners. And then today, December 15th, we're having the public hearing on the proposed levy at our regular meeting. and following the hearing um and the opportunity for
public comment then we will ask uh to certify that final levy amount. So, our proposed payment 20 26 tax levy is an increase from 2025. Um, it's 6,430,846 or 27.1%.
And of course, um, we'll review the the why behind that. Changes by levy category and reasons um are on the next slides. Um, so this um is the actual levy in 2025, the proposed payable in 2026, and
the change. Um so you can see it's a significant increase and of course um with an operating re referendum and a capital levy um that um that explains the larger than average increase for us.
And so we'll go through the explanation of levy changes the category general fund voter approved operating referendum. Um that's an increase of $4,285,11 and the use of the funds is for general operating expenses. And this is our first year ready for voter approved
operating referendum and an increase of 575 per pupil approved in November 2025. general fund the voter approved capital projects levy um is 1,500 uh thousand 1.5 million um deferred
maintenance technology curriculum school related transportation vehicles and again this is our first year levy for a voter approved capital project approved by our voters in November of 2025 and then prior adjustments to the general fund um and there are prior
adjustments of uh $1,821,949 um And there could be various uses to these funds. Um in part initial levies are based on estimates in later years amounts are updated and levies may be proact or retroactively adjusted.
And then debt service. Um there's a reduction for debt excess at uh 1,297,297 and those are debt payments. Um, so the reason for the change, we're required to levy at 105% of the debt service payment amounts to cover delinquencies and tax collections. And generally that's less
than 5%. So most districts gradually build up a fund balance and then formulas in the state law adjustments um to tax to levy for those debt excess balance factors in impacting individual taxpayer school taxes. So um a tax bill can be
can be impacted for any one of these reasons. Um there could be a change in the value of the individual property. There could be a change um in the value of all property within the district. Or there could be increase or decrease in levy amounts caused by changes in state funding formulas, local needs and costs,
voter approved referendums, and other factors. And so when we look at the impact of property uh valuation, so um there's two slides similar. Um one shows both houses valued at $100,000. If the total levy is
$500, then each each property will pay $250 of that levy. However, if we look at the next slide and we have two properties um in the district, the orange house is valued by 10 increased by 10%. The blue house is value increases by 25% and so then the total
levy share of $500 um will generate the same amount of levy even though the value increases, but the orange house pays less and the blue house pays more. and then the 4-year school levy comparison. So if we look at school district taxes only and shown based on
no change and a 13.6% increase in property value for residential homes over the past four years, the actual changes in value may be more or less than any parcel of property intended to provide a fair representation of what's happened in school district property taxes over the period um for typical
properties. And then the amounts for 2026 are preliminary estimates um which could change slightly and um annually we have ellers our district municipal adviser help with these estimates.
And so this um this document uh shows what that looks like um at residential um residential, commercial, agricultural homestead, agricultural nonhomestead apartments and residential um nonhomestead at estimated market values
um for all of those categories. So examples starting out 150,000 and looking um up to 750,000 for residential homestead for example. And so, um, this shows actual taxes payable in 2025 and
then looking at estimated taxes payable in 2026, both without the ballot question and with the approved ballot question and then what that looks like for a total increase. So, what the taxes what the the change to taxes would look like uh for 2025 2026 and for
residential homestead we generally use around that 200 $250,000 home. Um and so the ch the estimated change in taxes uh for 2025 2026 um as an example there would be $256. And then to look at that a little bit
differently. Um estimated changes in school property tax. So, this looks at a $250,000 home and a $350,000 uh residential homestead property and what that looks like 2026 estimated for that increase
for both 250 and 350 and that's with no changes to property value. Um, this is estimated uh changes for a commercial industrial property um 2026 and then an agricultural homestead
property. the increase on 2026 and that's no changes in property value. And this looks at a 13.6 cumulative change in property value. So what that does um to the $250,000 residential homestead property um and the $350,000
homestead property. There isn't a significant change, excuse me. And then um state property tax pref uh preferences. So there's a homestead credit refund available for all homestead property both residential and agricultural. And agricultural is the
house garage and 1 acre refund is a sliding scale based on total property taxes and income. especially property tax refund available for all homestead property residential and agricultural HDA only um which is the house in one
acre with a gross tax increase of at least 12% and $100 prior year over the prior year and then a refund is 60% of the tax increase that exceeds greater than 12% or $100 and a max of $1,000.
And then the senior citizen property tax deferral allows people 65 or older with a household income of 96,000 to defer a portion of their property taxes on their home. And deferred property taxes may may taxes plus acred interest must be paid when the home is either sold or the
homeowner dies. And then income taxes. If you itemize deductions for federal income taxes, you may deduct a portion of your taxes paid. Starting with your 2024 taxes, renters can claim the renters's refundable credit on the Minnesota income tax return.
So, our next steps um would be uh to move to public comment on the proposed levy and then look to certify the 2026 property uh tax levy. Um just a note here uh that we do have that rebate program, our 12th year um
and parcel numbers as well just forformational purposes. Okay. Okay. Any questions from the board before we go to public comment on this? Okay. Moving on to item B, public hearing
related to the proposed 2025 payable 2026 property tax levy. The purpose of the public hearing is to allow for public comment on the proposed certification of the final 2025 payable 2026 property tax levy. Individuals who
wish to speak during the public hearing have completed a public speaker card which outlines the public hearing process and submitted it to the school board secretary before the meeting. The public hearing will be open for up to 30 minutes and limit each speaker to 3
minutes. The school board chair will call speakers to the microphone and microphone and recognize one speaker at a time. Only speakers recognized by the schoolboard chair are permitted to speak during a public hearing. Do we have anybody for the public hearing? Deb,
>> thank you. Item C, certification of the final 2025 payable 2020 property tax levy. Dr. Damer. Um tonight we ask um for the next step in the levy certification process uh to
certify the district's final 2025 payable 2026 property tax levy. Um attached um in the agenda is the levy limitation of certification report provided by the Minnesota Department of Education. Um and as noted, um the levy,
uh individual levy amounts are included for a total levy of 30,199,69324. >> Thank you, Dave. I'll move to approve the certification of the final 2025 payable 2026 property tax levy in the amount of 30,191,69324
and authorize the board clerk to send the business administrative services memo ASBA.25.068R 068R final 2025 payable 2026 tax levy for Independent School District number 152 before submission to the Klay County
Auditor and Minnesota Department of Education. >> Thank you, Cassidy. >> A second. I have a motion by Dave, second by Cassidy, move to approve the certification of the final 2025 payable 2026 property tax levy in the amount of 30,191,69324
and authorize the board clerk to sign the business and administrative services manual ASBA.25.06R 06R final 2025 payable 2026 tax levy for independent school district number 152 for submission to the Klay County Auditor and the Minnesota Department of
Education. Any further discussion from the board in regards to this? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed, same sign. That motion carries. Item D, fiscal year 2025 audit. Dr. Dam. Um,
thank you. Um, tonight we have Mason Ursa from I Berry who will be presenting the district audit report for our fiscal year ending June 30th, 2025. >> Thank you. Welcome, Mason. Can you make sure that green light is on there? Push the button on the microphone there.
Thank you. >> There we go. Well, good evening everyone. I was going to say I was a little nervous when I first walked in here. You guys had a room full, but cleared out a little bit. You know, I guess the audit's not overly uh enjoyable, but it's one of those things we got to got to get through. So, uh you know, as Kristen mentioned, my name is
Masonstead. I'm an auditor with I Daily here in our Fargo uh North Dakota office. And today, we're just going to be going through kind of a high level, what we call an executive summary. So, you know, we go through the entire audit. We ask Cam and his team for all this information. You know, go have a lot of questions, a lot of back and
forth, issue this big set of financial statements. And ultimately we like to prepare this because it gives more of a graphical representation you know a little more high level information rather than you know that big that big or big set of financial statements. So yeah we can uh move on to the first
slide. I'm not sure if my clicker will work on the on here but no doesn't seem like it. Sounds good. It's a PDF. So, so now >> Perfect. Well, we can uh move on to the
next slide here to uh we're going to start just with the audit result and findings. So, you know, ultimately we're we're going through all our procedures. We're, you know, asking for a lot of invoices, asking a lot of questions, and basically verifying a bunch of the district balances. Uh this is not to say that we're testing everything, you know,
100%. And we're not looking at every every single invoice, every single transaction, but we're testing on a risk-based approach. And we ultimately feel comfortable of giving this this opinion um over the financial statements. And ultimately, the district got what we call a clean opinion. In audit terms, it's an unmodified opinion.
But, you know, the financial statements are free from material in the statement. No issues noted, nothing nothing of real note. So, ultimately what you want to see there. So, we can move on to the next one here. Uh so in in every every school district audit, every governmental audit, there's
a a few different areas that we look at. So you have kind of your normal financial statement audit. So you know, just just all the all the normal financials that you guys are seeing on a on a monthly basis at these meetings. But then we also do an audit of federal awards. So if a district expends more than $750,000 in federal funding, which
you know you guys spend quite a bit more than that, so you know, we definitely definitely not a single out there. Um but essentially we have to go in and test these different programs. So, think of your child nutrition program. Title one. Um, ESSER was a really big one for the past, you know, three, four, five years at this point. Um, now, you know,
funding's kind of dried up, so it hasn't been a been a huge deal. But, um, essentially, you know, all we're saying here is that we're testing those federal awards. We're looking at them. Um, and ultimately with that single audit, the district also received that unmodified opinion there. So, um, you know, no real
concerns there. We can jump onto audit findings here. So again, as we're as we're going through all our audit procedures, you know, we're looking at various different things, different sections, you know, our accounts receivable, your guys' capital assets, uh cash, prepaids, all this stuff. And ultimately, we're going through these
procedures, and you know, we're going to issue that report and we're going to issue these uh audit findings if any arise. So, you know, on these slides here, you see three different sections. You have your financial statement findings, your single audit, and then Minnesota legal compliance. Essentially, the state of Minnesota puts out an audit
guide and it's a bunch of different word documents that we have to follow, read through all the all the details and ultimately um follow these things. So, it's we're looking at things like student activities, um the district's bids, um and just different things like that. So, top to bottom here, you know, we got our financial statement findings.
So, you know, the three ones that you pretty much see, we do, you know, as a firm, we do quite a few of these Minnesota school district audits and 95% of district receive all three of these findings. So preparation of financial statements uh the CIFA and then all of material journal entries into that as well. Basically we're we're going
through we're proposing various adjustments just to make sure the uh financial statements are in conformity with you know generally accepted accounting principles all the different accounting standards um and ultimately we're as a firm are writing the financial statements and we're writing all the related notes to the financial statements um and different things like
that. So that's really where those findings go. Not to say that you know somebody within the district couldn't prepare them. It's just we're making sure that you know every single box is checked and everything is uh good to go there. And then segregation of duty is really what we do is we walk through all the district's internal controls. You
know just kind of see where those checks and balances lie. You know ultimately it's not a a bad finding to have because it's it's one that you almost have to be you know have everything segregated you know all of your different checks and balances um to not receive that finding. So it's just it's only come in and you
know even if there's kind of a a minor thing then we have to you know still report it. but nothing of of real note or concern from our perspective. Um, and then single audit, no findings there. So, the only thing I would point out there is we tested uh title one and child nutrition this year and you know looked at all the various things we
needed to look at and no no issues there. And then Minnesota legal compliance. Um, this this year there was some inactive uh student activity accounts. This one is very easy to miss. It's just, you know, if a if an activity didn't have any uh receipts or dispersements throughout the year,
technically it's supposed to be closed. Um or there's, you know, some procedure that needs to be followed uh that says, you know, hey, the adviser, the district wants to keep it open. Um but under these Minnesota legal compliance guides, we have to issue that finding for some of those inactive accounts. But again, an easy one to correct. Nothing of of
real real concern there from our perspective. So can move on to the next one here. Uh so Gazby 101 implementation. Every year the Gazsby stands for uh government accounting standards board. Um essentially they put out these
standards. Um so in prior presentations you would have seen Gatsby 87 which is related to leases. Uh Gatsby 96 which is related to uh different subscription agreements that the district has. Essentially what Gazby 101 does is it's modernizing different types of uh what we call compensated absences. So really
it's just these different leave types. So big two, you know, are sick and vacation. And then along with sick is the the new ESST and all the all the things that go on with that. Um, but then, you know, within the district's policies, you know, there's things like jury duty leave or bereavement leave or, you know, just just varying leaves. So
what we have to do is we have to go in this year and say, okay, you know, here's all the district's leave balances as of year end, whether that's for teachers, paras, you know, all the different employee groups. We then have to go back and complete essentially an average over the past few years. Um so
we have to see okay who used what leave you know okay person A acrewed 100 hours uh they used 50 hours so they had 50 hours left. So you know they had a 50% usage percentage we have to then apply that across all of the district's employees. So I this year I wanted to
say it was about 65% usage percentage. So you know let's say the district had a million dollars in acured leave at year end. you want to take that times your 65% and ultimately that's how you get your um leave balance. So basically what this standard is saying is you know hey we're not expecting everybody to use
100% of their leave at all times but it's also not saying that we're expecting the district to pay this amount of money as of year end. Um so ultimately it really just kind of you know brings on an additional balance kind of like the lease standard did kind of like these subscription uh standards
do. So again nothing of of real note there but one we we would like to point out since it's new this year. Um yeah, we can move on. So next we're going to talk about cash and investments. Um you can jump to the next one here. So I first few slides, you know, a little wordy. Now we're going to kind of jump
into some more graphs. Um basically all this is signifying showing is just the district's cash and investment balances over the past 10 years. So you know, you see some some increases, some decreases, and it's, you know, been pretty consistent from, you know, 22 23 24 25.
Um so again just kind of more of a a graphical representation but nothing of of real note of concern there. So next few slides are going to focus on the general fund. So you know it's Kristen had a slide on some uh various the various fund types. So you know your general fund is kind of your big one
that everything flows through. Um and then I'll jump into some some food service and community service a little later. But the first one here is just talking about your ADMs. So again nothing of of real note here. We like to put this in here just to show and say, hey, from 2016 to now 2025, you know, a
steady increase in students. Um, this these numbers can change, they can shift, you know, ultimately they, you know, get reported throughout the year. Um, the really big thing I point out here is that these student counts, these ADMs drive the revenue that the district gets from the state. So higher the ADM,
typically the more revenue, lower, you know, it's ultimately kind of depends on the different types of students and things like that, but you know, it's the higher number the the better. typically. So, next slide here um is just uh the budget to actual. So, you guys have likely seen
a lot of these these numbers before and um everything like that, but really the the thing I would point out here is that the district brought in more revenue than what was budgeted and they expended less funds than what was budgeted for. So ultimately you're seeing that that overacrruel if you will between that
final budget and actual column for your revenues and the under acrruel for your your final budget to your actual expenditures which is ultimately what you'd like to see. Um obviously within these different line items there's some different variances. So you know your
your state sources nearly impossible to predict you know ultimately what what formulas are going to be used what you know what each ADM is worth. you know, kind of where your general education aid lands, your special education lands. Um, so, you know, ultimately the district's budgeting conservatively and they
brought in more revenue. So, um, you know, good to see that there. And then same thing with expenditures. Obviously, things pop up throughout the year that were unknown. You know, you can't do a budget amendment for every every single thing that pops up. But, um, any any questions on this slide?
>> Looks good. Sounds good. Can continue on. Uh next couple here is just uh you know some pie charts here. So really what this is showing is your general fund revenue for 23 24 25 compared to the state average. Um you know got some
you know differences here. Ultimately the the big one that you're seeing so you got your got your state sources your your local levy your federal. Um ultimately, you know, from these graphs, you can see the district is relying less on some of those state sources and levies than what other schools and the the state average does. So, you know,
you guys are doing a good job of um bringing in those different funding sources. Um but again, nothing of of real note here. And then same thing with the general fund expenditures. This is just a a different visual representation of the district expenditures. You know,
salaries are obviously the the huge one there. Uh the big one. And then just some some other different areas there, but again, very consistent year-over-year. No, nothing of of real note. Uh the next couple slides here really just talk about the district's fund
balance. You know, what is a why do you want a positive fund balance? You know, it just can contribute to that favorable bond rating. Um and ultimately when I you know I'll talk about kind of your unassigned fund balance your you know your your rainy day fund if you will that can produce some you know investment income or you know other
things especially with you know interest rates have been recently so that's all we'll say there. Uh next slide we always throw in here it's just to talk about the various fund balance categories that you could see on the financial statements. Not saying that the district will have all these but you know they they could be there. So working from
left to right you have your non-spendable fund balance. So that's things like your your inventory balances, your prepaids. The middle three always lump together. Your restricted, committed, and assigned. Essentially, they're set aside for a specific purpose. The district can't just go and use those funds for, you know, other things with the far-left
restricted being essentially the most restrictive. There's an outside entity saying, "Hey, you have to use these funds for this specific purpose." Where committed and signed are more up to the board's discretion, up to the district's discretion. So, you know, if you want to set aside fund balance for capital projects in the future, which is is very
common because, you know, you kind of want to want to budget for those line items. And then you ultimately have your your unassigned. So, I said it earlier, but those are kind of your reserves or your your rainy day fund. And then here is just the the change in your your overall fund balance in the
general fund. Um, so kind of three items of note, I guess. Your unassigned fund balance increased. That's good to see. your LTFM decrease that long-term facilities maintenance um you know ultimately as the district keeps completing projects keeps you know bonding all this various stuff that is
bound to fluctuate up and down um and then an overall net change of uh decrease of about 700,000 uh but essentially from a you know high level perspective of that that total fund balance there you know sitting still within a within a good range in that unassigned fund balance.
So next slide here. This again just kind of some more some more graphs for you guys. Um you know really if you're looking at these you know 2016 to 2018 kind of a an increase you know drop in 2020 then you know back an increase and
drops again. It's really that that 2020 through 2023 2024 is you know that every district was feeling the effects of COVID. So there was kind of a big spike in all these fund balances because there was this federal funding then it you know it was decreasing over the years and then ultimately relatively
consistent year-over-year between 24 and 25 um between those various fund balance categories. Uh this one just you know talks about what should the district set aside for fund balance. So the district has a policy that they'll maintain between 12
and 15% um of that of that fund balance there. So that would be about 14.4 to 18 million. And then we we put this in here, but the Government Finance Officers Association or GFOA for short essentially throws out and says, "Hey, district should strive to maintain the
16.67% for no less than two months of expenditures." That is by no means the beall end all. That's just simply a a goal. If the district comes in and says, "Hey, we have no idea what we should do, but you know, you guys have a have had solid procedures and you you know, talked through it. You you know what the
fund balance category you want to strive for is." So that's just kind of where the the difference lies there. Then if we move on, so we got this is showing your your unrestricted. So that's kind of that darker blue. And then your unassigned would be that lighter blue. Essentially the difference
between unrestricted and unassigned. Your unrestricted includes your assigned fund balance, committed fund balance, and your um unassigned just because you know the district can kind of move some of that stuff around uh based on you know board approval and all these various things. Um whereas your
unassigned is you know kind of free will if you will for the district to use. Um but as you can see those those true reel lines that's you know the district's goal. So you know approaching that goal there with the with the unrestricted you know definitely below with the unassigned but again it's it's simply a
a goal. It's not a you know be all endall. It's nothing the state will would ever come in and say you know hey you need to maintain this. So that's that. And then we'll just chat about some other funds here quick. So, you got your um community service fund
balance. Again, I never really really point anything out too crazy here on these slides. The current year community service fund balance was about 825,000. Um so, you know, a drop from 2023, but really what I always say on this slide is that the community service fund is
there to serve the community. So, it's, you know, it's not really a fund that should make money, you know, at the end of the day. So, it's it's good to have those reserves. It's good to have that fund balance, but you know, it's not like you would really want to see just a, you know, keep climbing and a big, you know, big fund balance there at the end of the day. So, good to good to see it's maintaining its consistency. Um, or
even a decreases the end of the world. And then your food service fund balance. So, you know, really the only thing to point out here is you'll see that that green line there kind of kind of goes up and down and then your your different blue uh line items there. So MD8 comes out and says a district can only have 3
months worth of expenditures uh in their food service fund balance at any given time. So that goal uh or that cut off this year is about 1.6 million. Um the district's fund balance is about 2 million. So really it's it's not saying that you know you guys did anything wrong. It's just that MDE would you know
technically come in and say hey you know you got to move some of that fund balance out. We got to you know you guys are likely already setting it aside for a specific purpose. you know, you're going to get new kitchen equipment or do whatever in the next fiscal year. But just something to watch and kind of be uh cognizant of that you don't want to keep building up that food service fund
balance um just because an MD could come and say, you know, hey, we we shouldn't have that in there. So, with that, any questions? >> Any questions from the board on the food service? I see that green line
peaks in 2024 and then goes back down. What's the reason up and then jumping back down like it did? >> So the 2024 expenditures would have been higher. Um so it's basically what that green line is is it's your total expenditures. So this year I want to say it's about 4.5 million. Uh we divide it by 9 months because that's you know the
typical school year and then you take that times your three months again. So the the expenditures last year just would have been higher compared to your your fund balance that you would have had in there. So >> okay, >> that's kind of that's why it goes up and down. It's It looks kind of weird from a graphical perspective, but that's that's >> I thought maybe it was something what the state was doing to us.
>> Oh, no. Because of some some something they were doing. Um, going to the unrestricted unassigned balance and I'm just kind of wondering throughout the state, is it pretty common that you've seen a drop in the unrestricted
unassigned in the 22 23 24 time frame? I'm guessing it is. >> Yeah, it's pretty much across the board. Um it's really been you know from what we can tell ultimately we're not you know MDE or the the state but you know it's really there was this big influx of
COVID funding so it was the it was all the err funding you know there was some peaks in child nutrition some different things like that so it's you know you were seeing these big increases and then now all of a sudden there's not that funding or there's not that other that other type of funding so it's you know it's decrease and it's got to be made up
of you know other funding sources so that's why you're kind of seeing those drops. >> Okay, last question. Yep. Let you go. Um, with the other districts, and I I talked to Brandon a little bit about this. What's kind of the average that you see
in a school district or side for unassigned percentages? >> It's a, you know, it really varies based on district to district. I'd say if I had to throw an average out there, it's 10%. >> Okay. >> Um, probably that's, you know, I could get you some more solidified numbers,
but I'd say that's probably the the average. That's basically what we've been talking about and that's that's kind of something I like to mention that one time we were in the seven what was it Brandon 17 to 24 or something like that. We thought that was kind of high so we dropped it down to 12 to 15.
>> Yeah, it's a lot of districts do use kind of that GFOA that 16.67 67 which does seem bit high just because it's you know it's like four months of expenditures but um yeah nothing of >> okay concern there but no otherwise
before I go just wanted to thank Cam and his team and you know can everybody else at the district it's been a pleasure work with everyone so yeah it goes goes smooth every year so I you know can't complain too much okay anything else from the board before let me go >> thank you >> looks good thank you for your time thank
you cam for your work Yeah. >> Looks like this is an action item. So, do I have a motion from somebody? >> Cassidy. >> Move to approve the fiscal year 2025 audit report draft with no changes as presented by I Bailey OP.
>> I'll second a motion by Cassidy, second by Laura Lee. Move to approve the fiscal year 2025 audit report draft with no changes as presented by I Bailey LLP. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I.
>> Those oppose, same sign. That motion carries. Item E, resolution resolution establishing com combined polling places for multiple precincts and designated hours during which the polling places
may remain open for voting for school district elections not held on the day of the statewide election. Dr. Lunik, >> thank you. So, this is an annual uh request that we have of the school board every year uh just so we can set our polling places in case we have to run uh
an election. So, you'll see on page 92 and 93 where those polling places are. And so, I would ask that uh you approve uh this tonight in case we need to host another election, but if we do, that
wouldn't be real happy with me. So, in that regard, um, we're just setting what we normally do this time of year. So, >> thank you. I move to approve the resolution establishing combining polling places uh for multiple precincts and designating
hours during which the polling places will remain open for voting for school district elections not held on the day of a statewide election as presented. >> Thank you, Cassidy. >> I'll second. >> Have a motion by Lauren by Cassidy. Move to approve the resolution establishing
combined polling places for multiple, excuse me, precincts and designating hours during which the polling places will remain open for voting for school district elections not held on the day of a statewide election. Any further discussion from the board?
Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Those opposed, same sign. That motion carries. Item F, second reading of policies, Dr. >> So the second reading of policies is presented due to uh no changes from the
first reading. Uh with that, uh I believe you can make one motion to approve all of them. So I would recommend that we make that motion and uh support the second reading. >> Thank you, Cassidy. >> I move to approve the second reading of policies as presented.
>> I second. >> Have a motion by Cassidy, second by Lee. Move to approve the second reading of policies as presented. Any further discussion from the board? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed, same sign. That motion
carries. Item four, superintendent updates. Dr. Lick. >> Thank you. Uh, tonight I do have uh no updates for you and uh we'll let you off the hook early. >> Well, I do have one update. Dave, did
you have something? >> Um, Melissa was elected to the Lakes Country Service Cooperative Board. So, the rest of the board would help. >> That's exciting. >> So, thank thank you for Melissa for running and welcome to the Lakes Country Board. Item five, adjournment.
Dave, I'll move to approve the adjournment of the December 15th, 2025 school board meeting at 6:57 p.m. >> Thank you. >> I'll second. A motion by Dave, second by Laura Lee. Move to approve the
adjournment of the se December 15, 2025 school board meeting at 6:57 p.m. Any further? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those oppose, same sign. This meeting is adjourned. Thanks
everyone.