Thanks to Jameson’s Irish Bar and Dakota County for their support.
A standing-room only meeting—for student recognitions—as the ISD 197 School Board approved the property tax levy, fee increases for School Age Care and the Early Learning Center, heard a site report from Moreland, and more.
2025 Property Tax Levy
The school board approved the 2025 property tax levy of nearly $4 million or 11%.
- ISD 197 will have the lowest school property taxes compared to eight of our surrounding districts.
- State funding continues to lag behind inflation over the last 20 years and would need to increase by nearly 19% to catch up. State funding increased 2% for the current school year.
- No one spoke during the public hearing. The board unanimously approved the levy increase.
Moreland Arts & Health Sciences Magnet School
Rob Sahli, Moreland principal, and a group of five students gave a site report on Moreland.
- Pride: The Moreland mural installed last spring continues to be a point of pride. Also, SPARKS days when students get to choose a class that interests them. This year students took classes on hedgehog art, crocheting, physics, escape room, human football, and more.
- Improve: Sahli asked students what they’d like the school board to improve at Moreland. Two students said they want more books in the library (many library books were sent home during the pandemic and didn’t come back; the school currently has $12,000 worth of books from various grants being added to the library). Another student said, “Give more things to janitors.”
- Coming up: Moreland has their Raise Craze fundraiser coming in the spring, the Finding Nemo Kids musical in March, and the Moreland Made event in April.
Fee Increases
The board unanimously approved 3% increases for each of the next two years for School Age Care (SAC) and the Early Learning program. These were reviewed and discussed in more detail at the last meeting.
Other Items on the Agenda
- Recognitions: The room was packed with families for various student recognitions, including Garlough Student Council, Friendly Hills Student Council, Two Rivers cross country team, Two Rivers swim & dive, and the state championship Dakota Hawks soccer team.
- Target update: Staff shared a report on the strategic framework about social and emotional learning. This can often be a confusing topic, but it covers everything from how students handle emotions to how they relate to others. Board Member Tim Aune pointed out that it matters because students who feel good will be able to learn better.
- Expectations document: The board unanimously approved a Board Member Roles, Standards, & Expectations document that had been discussed at multiple previous meetings.
- Board goals and evaluation: Board Member Byron Schwab reported on the board goals for 2024 and their self evaluation. They completed all their goals and rated their performance and relationship with the superintendent as mostly strong. A summary included descriptors positive, respectful, and collegial.
- Committee report: Board Chair Sarah Larsen shared a quick update on the Parent Ambassador Network (PAN).
Engage
- More: Agendas and minutes for ISD 197 School Board meetings are available online.
- Watch: You can watch this meeting online and see the video recap from Superintendent Peter Olson-Skog and Board Member Morgan Steele.
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