On January 21, 2026, the School Board met for its first regular meeting of 2026. The School Board approved Policy 509 Enrollment of Nonresident Students, that could be used to manage open enrollment in future school years should the administration deem it necessary. The School Board reviewed enrollment projections for the 2026-2027 school year:
The recommendation from administration was to not cap enrollment for any grade level in 2026-2027. Enrollment for the upcoming year is similar to the current year, no pressure put on any particular grade level, with class sizes remaining in the targeted range of 20-25/students per class. It was noted that open enrollment is covering the 106 resident students that the District loses to other enrollment options, which is important for future budgeting reasons.
The District has released a video on open enrollment to help explain the process and controls that are in place to ensure that open enrollment is managed in a manner that is positive for the school district and community.
The School Board discussed the Review and Comment from the Minnesota Department of Education on the February 10 Referendum. MDE gave the District's project plan a positive review and noted specifically that "the district has supplied cost estimates to operate and staff the additional building spaces and it appears existing revenues will be sufficient to fund any operations cost increases. The proposed projects appear to be in the long-term interest of the school district."
The School Board discussed making improvements to the substitute teacher pay and will be reviewing the policy and compensation in this area due to the concerns with more frequent time off requests with Minnesota Paid Family Medical and Employee Safe and Sick Time expanding the frequency and length of staff absences.
Board Vice Chair Corey Goodwin said "it makes sense business-wise, when people are here putting in more days to be rewarded and incentivized to fill in more." The consistency of the pool of substitutes leads to better student relationships, familiarity with classrooms, and adherence to our District culture. The District will look at new policy language and compensation rates at future meetings.
In other news:
The District celebrated and recognized Triple A award recipients - Bella Weisser and Tyler Stier for their success in Academics, Arts, and Athletics. They will represent Osakis Public School at the Sub-Section 22 level.
The School District submitted their pay equity report, showing it is in compliance with state statute on the pay scale of men's and women's job classes.
The Student Board Representative discussed the fun that was in the works for Snow Week (January 26-31) and Incentive Day (February 26).
The Board received reports from the Activities Director, Elementary Principal, and High School Principal.
The next regular School Board Meeting will be held on February 18, 2026.