Budget revisions, reducing staff

During their March 16 meeting, members of the NRHEG school board approved the employment contract for the paraprofessional staff. Superintendent Michael Meihak summarized the para contract as showing about a 9% increase in wages and benefits across the two years of the contract.

 

In a 5 to 1 vote, board members approved a proposal to reduce staff based on decreasing enrollment in grades 7 to 12. The reduction leads to non-renewal of the position held by social studies teacher Brian Belcourt. It was also shared that high school physical education teacher and football coach Marc Kruger submitted his resignation effective at the end of the school year.

 

Updated district policies regarding student attendance and responsible use of artificial intelligence continue to be reviewed and moved toward approval.

 

The longest discussion of the March 16 meeting consisted of updates pertaining to the 2025-’26 district budget. Business manager Karla Christopherson described the budget as a “moving target,” since monies are allocated in June of the previous year with no way of knowing how the heating season will go, what the price of fuel will do, or whether any emergency expenses will arise.

 

To emphasize her point, since the meeting took place a day after the area’s 8- to 12-inch snowfall, she commented lightheartedly, “For example, until this week, I was feeling pretty good about our snow removal costs.”

 

When the budget was first approved about 10 months ago, it was already known the district had allocated more money to expenditures than it expected to receive, leading to “deficit” spending. In June of 2025, it was anticipated the district’s “unallocated fund balance” of about $4.3 million would decrease by about $297,000. It is district policy that between 22 and 28 percent of each year’s budget should be retained in the fund balance; $4.3 million is about 39 percent.

 

Numerous financial agencies, including the Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA), recommend that school districts should have unallocated funds available so that, if funding from any of numerous different agencies is delayed, the district could continue operating for about a third of the school year without having to borrow money.

 

Based on the March summary, the amount of deficit spending is anticipated to be almost $443,000. Causes for the change include higher unreimbursed expenditures for special education, an upswing in utility prices, the need to have unemployment insurance for staff members not paid during the summer months, and numerous requirements imposed by the state even though no funding was provided to cover their cost. The unanticipated purchase, during the school year, of the residential property at 302 Broadway Avenue South connected to the Secondary School parking lot, entailed a cost of about $100,000. 

 

Christopherson’s review summarized that the new figures entail a decrease to the general fund of about $443,000, about $146,000 more than anticipated last June.

 

The district’s revised total 2025-’26 operating budget is now about $13.9 million, as compared to  about $13.6 million expected last June.