Updates That Connect School and Community - March 20, 2025
As is my habit, I comment on the weather. Well, one of the few wins a superintendent gets, for students at least, is cancelling school due to weather.
This Scoop is longer than most due to the critical information of the future of the district. For the 21st Century consumer, brevity is the key to imparting important information. Well, this one will not be, but I hope those who are not in the habit of being long-form readers will hang in there.
This link expresses the District's projection for the next five years. Data for projections beyond one to two years is messy. This link is our best effort as far as February 18th: District's General Fund Five-Year Financial Forecast .
The 2025-2026 District Calendar is linked. This was also approved at the February Board meeting.
Winter athletics concluded which ushers in spring sports. FFA celebrated an entire week of awesome at the high school recently. Just a couple months left I know our teachers are striving to get as much learning as possible in such a short time - snow days are not helpful in that endeavor. Still, there is value of kids spending a snow day with parents if it's a possibility - if not parents, hopefully, grandparents get to enjoy the joy that is playing during a spring winter storm.
Dates to remember:
- Tuesday and Thursday, March 18th and 20th - HS Conferences
- Friday, March 28th - Last day of Quarter 3
- Monday, March 31 - No School, Teacher Work Day
- Thursday, April 17 - Early Out
- Friday, April 18 - Monday, April 21 = Spring Break
Received feedback from a community member about lack of information from this office
Another interesting bit of context suggested is that information is not getting to the masses of St. Charles. I need your help in getting information from the Superintendent's office to the public. This person was correct that the Scoop averages around 250-interactions for every posting. The irony is it goes out to more than 1,200 parents, the entire school staff, and is posted on social media. A few thousand people should have access to this newsletter. Please help share it to people who have shared that they do not know what's happening at St. Charles Schools. Please, share this newsletter with those people.
The St. Charles School Board and this office wants people to be informed. Please help share the message.
Past Superintendent Scoops are on the following website: https://www.scschools.net/page/4663
In addition, I write Board Summaries after each Regular Board meeting. Those summaries are also linked on the link above. Information is available, please share. I would love nothing more than show growth to this concerned community member that we heard the concern and have worked to improve. But, I need your help to make that happen. The Board Summaries are linked HERE which includes the March 10th Regular Meeting.
A Call to Teaching - BE THE SOLUTION
Though teachers are the focal point to teaching and learning, an element that presented itself was the need for more help. The major component of this message is the difficulty of finding people to work not only as teachers, but paras, cooks, custodians, and so much more.
If you find yourself wanting to be more engaged with how teaching and learning happens, there are many ways to support students other than a classroom teacher.
The profession needs passionate people like yourself.
If you do want to look into what it might take to become a classroom teacher, the Minnesota Department of Education has a pathway for community experts and other. Here is the link for information if you are interested:
https://mn.gov/pelsb/aspiring-educators/firstlicense/tier1tier2/tier1tier2.jsp
If you want to learn more, contact the District office or the principals in the Elementary and High School.
If you either do not fit the noted requirements or just want to help in a different way, St. Charles needs your help in so many ways. Please contact the District office for more information if you want an application.
As a school librarian and administrator for more than a decade, I tired of people complaining about how teachers should teach. I realized I was part of the problem. When my family moved back to Minnesota, my goal was to become a classroom teacher, again, and be a part of the solution. I found in order to be great as a teacher it takes way more time and energy than eight hours provides. So much of teaching involves relationships and building trust with students. Even then, I realized how important students are in the learning process. They MUST be with me. If they trust that I care for them individually as people most honor my effort and desire to teach them a little English. GREAT teachers continually strive to be their best because they LOVE kids and want what's best for the kid rather than the self. St. Charles has many great educators but can always use more.
There is no greater profession than teaching young minds - become a part of the solution.
This profession needs many, many, more passionate people to make the world of our students better. Join Us.
Board Summary for March 18th
PMA Financial - Michael Hart presented to the Board what an Operating Levy Referendum.
Slides 1-3 discuss the impact of inflation not keeping up with the Basic Formula. The per pupil rate for 2025-2026 is $7,481. Had MN legislators focused on closing the gap to the inflationary amount of $8,951, the district's revenue would increase by $1,530,270.
Slide 4 expresses that revenue for Special Ed will continue to decline as the state struggles to meet its budgetary needs. The data is from FY23.
Slide 5 breaks out what is paid in taxes by residential homeowners if the home value = $300,000. The total impact is $943 which does not include an Operating Levy.
Slide 6 is interesting because it suggests what a $300k home would have been valued at in 2018 and how taxes of that property are impacted as the value in homes increase (these are estimates not actual).
Slide 7 compares local school districts to St. Charles. Lewistan-Altura, with its recent passing vote, will move nearly all the way to the right.
Slide 11 shares that of the 329-school districts in MN, 28% do not have operating referendums - St. Charles is one of those.
Slide 19 is important for most people. We asked PMA to run two scenarios: $600k and $700k levies. The chart shows that for a $300,000 home value the tax impact is about $25 monthly or $300 annually.
Ultimately, the Board has not made a decision on whether it decides to pursue an Operating Levy Referendum in November 2025. The St. Charles community will receive a survey in the coming weeks that connects to the Operating Levy Referendum. This is data the School Board will use as they consider next steps for the November ballot.
Revised FY25 Budget - Jim Freihammer
This spreadsheet expresses the difference between the adopted budget on 5.13.24 vs. the Revised Budget on 3.18.25. Keep in mind the Board has not approved the revised budget for FY25, yet.
In the yellow boxes, it shows that expenditures are in in the General Fund but down in Food Service and Community Service. Overall, the difference is nearly $158k. Revenue is up nearly $225k between the adopted vs. revised FT25.
The green boxes express that the district is showing a $66,998.84 positive difference in comparison to the two budgets. It is also worth noting that both Fd02 and Fd04 show dramatic, positive growth.
Reduction Scenario Update - Superintendent Routh
As of March 18th, I shared with the Board that current projections for reduced FTE is 3.8 total. It looks promising that the district may be able to reduce FTE without reducing physical people. There is still a long way to go. As more openings or movement continues, some positions may or may not be posted this spring as FY26 continues to come into focus.
Budget Committee Meeting - this committee consists of three board members, both principals, and four teachers representing both buildings. The discussion was dynamic and thoughtful. The Board members heard several great recommendations. One of the key ones is nearly every staff member that talked with this group of teachers said that teachers support the Board moving toward an Operating Levy Referendum this fall. Teachers also shared the need to reignite curriculum review and put resources into it. In addition, they noted the importance of putting larger budgets back into department supplies. Departments have been operating with lean supply budgets for some time.
