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In its final meeting of the year, the ISD 197 School Board heard from students and staff from Garlough and Moreland elementary schools, honored the successes of student athletes, and finalized the tax levy for 2026.
2026 Property Taxes
Brian Schultz, director of finance, guided the board through the legally-required truth in taxation hearing, which provides a clear picture of the district’s finances and proposed taxes for the coming year.
- The majority of the district’s funding comes from the state, and state law also puts limits on the property tax levies districts can impose. This year, ISD 197 voted to allow the maximum property tax levy increase.
- State-provided funding does not keep pace with inflation, putting more pressure on districts to max out their property tax levies.
- The district’s overall budget is around $129 million.
- Projections show that the district’s levy for 2026 will decrease slightly, but this decrease will likely be adjusted in future years based on updated information, probably resulting in a slight increase.
- After Schultz’s presentation, the board voted unanimously to approve the property tax levy.
Garlough Student Council
The board recognized the student council from Garlough Environmental Magnet School. These fourth graders work on several initiatives throughout the school, including writing articles for the school newsletter, planning spirit week activities, creating anti-bullying campaigns, and greeting guests who visit the school. Several student council members shared highlights of their experience:
- Kate’s favorite part was getting to help out kindergarteners on their first day.
- Grayson’s favorite part was planning spirit weeks.
- Evelyn’s favorite part was making announcements at school.
- Jessie’s favorite part was the student council meetings and learning about different responsibilities.
Fall Sports Recognition
- Boys and Girls Cross Country: Two Rivers Principal Jess Cabak introduced this year’s cross country teams, who got to participate in the state meet this year. The boys’ team dominated at the conference and sectional meet before placing fifth overall at the state meet, their best-ever performance, with one individual placing sixth overall. Two individual girls also participated in the state meet.
- Girls Tennis: Principal Cabak also introduced the girls’ tennis team, who won the conference tournament with an undefeated record. Two senior girls also went to the state tournament in doubles.
- Girls Swim and Dive: Principal Cabak honored senior Sada Gustafson for returning to the state meet for a second season, placing fourth overall in diving. She holds a school record for the best-ever diving performance in school history. Gustafson credited the team’s culture for her success, which started with creating bag tags for everyone’s swim bags featuring individual goals.
- Dakota United Soccer: This team, which includes students with special needs, took first in the United Soccer state tournament this year. Despite losing six seniors from last year, they rode a strong defense to the championship, winning the final match 7-1.
Moreland Site Report
Rob Sahli, principal of Moreland Arts and Health Sciences magnet school, shared an overview of what’s happening at Moreland this year as well as some of the school’s core commitments:
- School play: They will be putting on a production of Shrek: the Musical on March 13.
- Video announcements: Principal Sahli and a fourth-grader guest host record regular YouTube videos focusing on inclusion and recognizing what makes people unique.
- Art is central to the school curriculum. Student art is featured in “residencies” throughout the building, and any blank spaces are likely to be covered in art sooner or later.
- The school’s library is doing well, with lots of new books and plenty of outside funding. They’ve also implemented an intuitive shelving system that makes the stacks more accessible to average students and volunteer helpers.
- The school has started new partnerships with the Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Vikings to provide food for events and educate children about healthy eating.
Garlough Site Report
Libby Huettl, interim principal of Garlough Environmental Magnet School (GEMS), shared highlights of the school’s successes and goals for the year:
- Their mission statement, “GEMS uses the natural world to enrich learning,” informs much of what they do.
- The school has 418 students, 45 licensed staff, 27 support staff, and many plants and animals, including Bart, an overweight lizard who recently arrived.
- Garlough posted a 17% growth in reading fluency since last year.
- They have a new natural playground, featuring logs, rocks, and other elements. Huettl emphasized the way that children practice creativity, imagination, and teamwork in this space.
- The school uses an all-school theme as part of their curriculum. Last year’s theme was birds, and this year’s is fish. Activities around these themes include guest speakers, field trips, and studying the many animals kept at the school.
- The school offers GEMS awards to students who made someone smile, with awards including getting to read morning announcements or getting to take Bart for a walk.
- Garlough uses small groups to help students work on social-emotional learning. The goal here is to build relationships with other students and staff members.
- Garlough’s student council also shared some thoughts, including their favorite animals at the school: dogs, turtles, Bruno the tortoise, and a horned lizard.
Other Items on the Agenda
- Student rep update: Student school board representatives Rhys Walsh and Evangeline Fuentes shared news of several fundraisers, assemblies, and other activities throughout the district, including events commemorating Veterans’ day, nature walks with wild turkeys, roller skating field trips, food drives, and visits from students from the University of Minnesota.
- Superintendent update: In his regular statements to the board, Superintendent Peter Olson-Skog highlighted Two Rivers High School’s initiatives to help eightth graders get acclimated to high school life, fourth graders starting their musical journey by working with middle school music teachers to choose an instrument, and upcoming kindergarten enrollment. He also highlighted more fall sports achievements, including conference titles for the boys’ football and soccer teams. Olson-Skog concluded his remarks by recognizing the hard work of the district’s special education teachers.
- Social-emotional learning update: Sara Lein, director of special programs, shared an update on the district’s initiatives for social-emotional learning.
- The Branch Out program focuses on helping older students with special needs find employment and job training and live independently.
- The district is putting an emphasis on teaching social-emotional learning skills to staff, not only so they can teach these skills to their students, but also so that they can better take care of themselves and thrive in their jobs.
- The district is prioritizing trauma-informed teaching practices for school-aged care staff, since these are spaces where students will often act out when dealing with trauma.
- Contract: Tye Michaels, director of human resources, shared an agreement with the Teamsters, who represent the district’s administrative assistants, that includes modest pay increases and slight increases in employee health insurance costs. Health insurance premiums are also going up by about 14%, to be covered by the district, but these premiums are not covered by this agreement. The board voted unanimously to approve the agreement.
- Superintendent contract: Board Chair Sarah Larsen reviewed the employment contract for superintendent for 2026-2029. Superintendent Olson-Skog will get a modest pay increase, which Larsen noted was a lower increase than any other employment contract for the coming year. The board voted unanimously to approve the contract.
- Goals: Board Member Byron Schwab shared an update on the school board’s goals for 2025, as well as a board self-evaluation.
Engage
- More: Agendas and minutes for ISD 197 School Board meetings are available online.
- Watch: You can watch this meeting online. You can also watch a video recap with Board Members Marcus Hill and Sarah Larsen.
Once again we had to hire a contributor to cover both ISD 197 School Board and West St. Paul City Council meetings on the same night. We make local news freely available, but it’s not free. Join now to support local news and keep your community informed.