On April 15, 2026 the School Board met for its regular meeting. The main agenda items were the bond sale and accompanying funding strategy for the upcoming school facilities projects.
On February 10, 2026, voters approved $19.9 million of school building bonds associated with facilities upgrades to the south entrance, the performance space, career and technical classroom space, fitness room, and locker rooms.
The Board is also planning to coordinate parking lot improvements projected to cost $1.12 million.
A recent state statute change taking effect on July 1, 2026 allows schools to bond for roofing improvements through long-term facilities maintenance, giving the school board the opportunity to bond for $500,000 of roof repairs.
Michael Hart from PTMA (the school's financial consulting firm) gave a presentation on the bond sale process and options in front of the school board to coordinate these different funding avenues.
Hart described that due to interest rates presently being lower than when budgeted this Winter, the School Board can issue the additional bonds at potentially the same or slightly higher tax impact as what was estimated to tax payers in the information regarding the February 10, 2026 referendum. For a home valued at $250,000 - the cost increase could be another $10/year if interest rates do not settle back to where they were last month, before global economic events related to the war in Iran impacted markets.
Hart fielded questions on the Board's authority to issue the added funds to the bond sale and reviewed the legal statutes that make this funding strategy available to the school board. Hart said that the tax impact of the additional bonds would impact properties in the same manner as the voter-approved bonds - allowing for the Ag2School Credit to apply and spread over the expanded tax base that includes seasonal recreation/cabin properties.
Later in the meeting, the Board held a required public hearing on the property tax abatement bonds being utilized for the parking lot improvements. The Board listened to the taxpayers' questions and comments. Board members also asked questions regarding the different avenues for funding the parking lots and roof repairs.
Board member Tricia Mages asked: "If we don't do this, how will we pay for our parking lots?"
Superintendent Justin Dahlheimer outlined three options to pay for the parking lot improvements:
Using existing and future fund balance created through the regular school budget and local property tax levy process.
Bonding Long-Term Facilities Maintenance revenue at some point in the future for the eligible aspects of this project to create more funds available for this project.
Utilize this board authority to issue these funds now or at some point in the future. Waiting until the future would require additional finance costs in an unknown interest rate environment.
Michael Hart cautioned the the Board on taking funds out of the general fund balance for parking lots because that is money that can be spent flexibly on future cost pressures such as teachers' salaries and curriculum. "Once you take that action, you can't take it back...taking some risk that you are going out to taxpayers at some point saying that we need more money for operating because we didn't manage this piece well."
Board vice chair Corey Goodwin commented on the: "This is all funds we've received from taxes, we can do it in one lump sum or we can spread it out to be less impactful if we do it this way...So if we are really representing the tax payers, for the parking lot, this is the most cost effective way to do it for them."
The Board approved the recommended funding strategy from PTMA with an anticipated bond sale by June 10 should interest rates stay below the parameters set by the Board. Once bonds are sold, any one interested in purchasing them would have to contact a licensed broker who could reach out to the investment banks that will be holding the bonds.
The Board listened to a proposal for owners' representative services for the upcoming facilities projects by Joe Cecko, of Cecko Construction, to provide oversight and support to the School Board to ensure an independent review, regular reports to the Board, a local contact, and additional communication to the School District staff during the process.
The Board was given an update from the student representative, Bella Weisser, on the recent happenings in the school. Bella complimented the school's food service program: "Lunches have continued to be good, we have not heard any complaints from the student body."
In the High School Update, Mr. Hoffarth included a detailed report on the high school literacy interventions and increased screening - a component of the District's literacy plan.
In the Activities Update, Mr. Kalpin discussed the results of the student-athlete winter season surveys among other items related to MSHL requirements, coaching position movements, and Spring events.
In the Elementary Update, Mr. Schmidt commented on changes made in the 2nd grade and the academic intervention schedules, curriculum updates within each grade level, and the preparation going into the upcoming Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment testing this Spring.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for May 18, 2026 at 5:30pm in Board Room in the District Office, located at the East Entrance.