NRHEG School Board
By REED WALLER
Staff Writer
The $9,100,000 facilities bond sale authorized by the recent referendum was completed and results presented to the NRHEG Board of Education at their July 15 meeting at Ellendale.
Thanks to the NRHEG district’s A+ credit rating and a S&P rating of “AAA,” the results were better than predicted last November. The bonds were expected to carry an interest rate of about four percent and have a tax impact of $33 per $100,000 residential, but on July 15 it came out at 2.6 percent and $26.
Interest paid on these bonds is tax exempt.
The issue will have reduced principal in the first three years while the district’s existing debt is still being paid off.
The final amount came to $8,535,000, with the remainder going to the reoffering premium on the bonds.
A presentation was held on July 9 at the Commons in New Richland with representatives of Northland Securities, the underwriter, for local buyers to have first shot, before they were offered to commercial banks and other financial institutions.
“You worked with us,” said board chair Rick Schultz to the attendees, “so we want you to have the opportunity to realize a return.”
On July 12 the sale was closed.
The April 9 referendum vote gave NRHEG the authority to borrow, but in order to be able to levy and use the money, the district had to create and pass a 10-year long-term facility maintenance program budget, which they did at the meeting. The budget is based on the results of the task force and the community survey from last year. The monies cannot be used for new facilities.
PFM Asset Management LLC was approved as the managers for the bond proceeds. The bond proceeds will be handled in a separate account through MSDLAF+.
Bus lease-to-own agreement
The board approved a bus lease agreement with Santander Leasing of two 2016 IC CE 77 passenger buses, with four payments of $24,575 per year.
“We have leased these two buses for the past four years,” said transportation manager Karla Christopherson, “and they have done very well.”
There are two buses due for renewal that the district wasn’t so pleased with, and they are being let go.
Activity fees raised
The board approved raises in the district’s athletic fees, activity passes and ticket prices to bring them in line with adjacent districts. These prices have not been changed for “quite some time,” according to Supt. Dale Carlson.
In accordance with a three-year plan, athletic fees will be raised:
‘19-20 ‘20-21 ‘21-22
Gr 7-8 $65 $70 $75
Gr 9-12 $110 $120 $130
Fam. $340 $370 $400
Activity passes will be raised:
student: $60, adult $95, family $210.
Ticket prices will be raised:
adult: $7, student $5.
Workforce
Employment agreements were approved for:
Sara Misgen, elementary special education teacher, BA step 2 +20 (will need to be posted first due to licensure requirements)
Cassidy Williams, grade 5 teacher, at BA step 1
Kaitlin Vetsch, early childhood 4 & 5 year old teacher, community education.
Resignations were accepted for Kelsey Vanderhorst, elementary paraprofessional, 8 years.
Dawn Raatz, secondary paraprofessional, 6 years.
Summer occupational therapy contract was approved for Rachel Kluver, for June 2019 through August 2019.
School Age Care plan
At the June meeting NRHEG Community Education Director Macy Whiteside presented a potential plan to provide School Age Care where parents would be able to bring their child before school and/or leave after school in an attempt to accommodate parent work and personal schedules.
Whiteside noted that a suggestion to extend the care downward to 3-year-olds created some concerns. She requested board approval to go forward with a plan to have an SAC program for Bridges through 5th grade beginning with the 2019-20 school year. The board should also consider approving offering a wrap-around school age care program for the 4- and 5-year-old preschool class beginning the coming year.
The board granted permission to move forward with the plan, but no commitment to a program at this time.
Superintendent evaluation
A closed-session evaluation of the Superintendent concluded with acknowledgement that Dr. Calrson has met or exceeded all expectations for this period except for the balanced budget. The board acknowledges they did approve the 2019-20 deficit budget and agree to work with Dr. Carlson to develop strategies to get the budget back in balance.
The next regular meeting of the NRHEG Board of Education will be Monday, August 19 at the Secondary Media Center at 6:30 p.m.