White Bear Lake Area Schools — Transcript
Thursday, June 11, 2026
Public Forum Policy
Internal Controls for Payments
Alternative Learning Program Name Change
School Board Member Conflict of Interest Policy (Policy 210)
Workers' Compensation Insurance and X-Mod Rate
Fiscal Year 2026-27 Preliminary Budget
Votes (11)
Consent Agenda Approval
Moved by Jessica Ellison [00:02:44] · Seconded by Ms. Daniels [00:02:59]
Mr. Skaar questioned the effectiveness of internal controls to prevent double payments, referencing a past audit finding. Ms. Johnson clarified that the Skyward system flags duplicate invoice numbers, but some similar-looking entries might be intentional split-coded payments. Mr. Skaar also inquired about multiple solar leasing vendors. Ms. Ellison requested a correction to the May 18th meeting minutes, noting her absence during specific votes.
Alternative Learning Program Name Recommendation
Jenni Sjosten presented the recommendation to change the Area Learning Center's name to White Bear Lake Area High School Manitou Campus, following its designation shift to an Alternative Learning Program. The new name was selected through a staff and student polling process, emphasizing 'Manitou' for its community roots and meaning, and 'Campus' to signify partnership with the main high school. No official board action was required, but the board endorsed the name.
First Reading of School Board Policies 210, 515, and 605
Dissent: Daniel Skaar voiced strong opposition to increasing the allowed amount for board member employment, suggesting no board member should have any employment relationship whatsoever with the district.
The first reading led to extensive discussion on Policy 210, 'Conflict of Interest - School Board Members.' The proposed change increased the maximum contract amount for board members working for the district from $8,000 to $20,000. Mr. Skaar argued against the increase, suggesting it creates a conflict of interest and advocated for stricter limits or outright prohibition of board member employment. Ms. Ellison and Ms. Thompson suggested aligning with state statute and relying on board approval for such instances. The policy was ultimately sent back to committee for further discussion.
Action on Tentative Agreement: Bear Adventure Club Staff (SEIU Local 284)
Moved by Angela Thompson [00:34:47] · Seconded by Deborah Beloyed [00:34:55]
Mr. Mons reported a successful bargaining process, reaching a three-year agreement with the Bear Adventure Club staff (formerly Extended Day employees) represented by SEIU Local 284 within two sessions. This agreement provides more flexibility for setting community member rates for the program.
Action on Tentative Agreement: Paraeducator School Service Employees (SEIU Local 284)
Moved by Jessica Ellison [00:36:20] · Seconded by Ms. Streiff Oji [00:36:28]
Mr. Mons presented the tentative agreement for paraeducator staff, noting a longer bargaining process (November 2025 to May 2026) but commending both teams for their persistence. Ms. Daniels thanked both parties for their hard work, acknowledging the importance of paraeducators to the school system.
Action on Property and Liability Insurance for 2026-27
Moved by Ms. Daniels [00:44:03] · Seconded by Angela Thompson [00:44:09]
Tim Wald and Nick Lano (Gallagher Insurance) presented the renewal of property and liability insurance through the Minnesota Insurance Scholastic Trust (MIST) for $856,712, representing a 7% reduction from the previous year. Lano explained this was due to MIST's participation in a larger GovPro program, spreading risk across more entities. Board members inquired about cost drivers, equipment breakdown coverage, and risk assessments, confirming regular safety assessments are conducted.
Action on the Workers' Compensation Agreement
Moved by Deborah Beloyed [00:48:40] · Seconded by Angela Thompson [00:48:52]
Tim Wald and Nick Lano presented the workers' compensation insurance proposal for $667,948 with SFM Mutual Insurance, a 14% increase despite winning the bid. The increase was attributed to payroll growth and the district's experience mod rate (X-mod) based on a rolling three-year average of claims. Mr. Skaar expressed concern about the X-mod rate of 1.39, indicating higher-than-expected losses, and requested a separate discussion on safety programs and incident reporting. It was clarified that delaying the vote would leave the district without coverage.
Action on the Fiscal Year 2026-27 Preliminary Budget
Dissent: Daniel Skaar voted against the preliminary budget, having first moved to amend it with a $2 million expenditure reduction, which failed.
Moved by Ms. Streiff Oji [00:58:39] · Seconded by Ms. Daniels [00:58:49]
Tim Wald and Andi Johnson presented the preliminary budget, highlighting a $10 million revenue increase and a 2.2% expenditure increase after $1.094 million in reductions (primarily transportation and administrative positions). The budget is projected to meet the 8% unassigned fund balance goal. Mr. Skaar presented a detailed analysis of financial trends, noting enrollment decline and shifts in spending. He moved to amend the budget to reduce expenditures by an additional $2 million, aiming to offset last year's deficit, but his motion failed due to lack of a second. The main budget motion passed.
Action on the Resolution Establishing Dates for Filing Affidavits of Candidacy
Moved by Deborah Beloyed [01:07:44] · Seconded by Angela Thompson [01:07:54]
Dr. K presented the resolution, provided by their elections attorney, to formally establish the filing dates for school board candidates for the 2026 election as July 14th to July 28th, 2026.
Action On School District Population Adjustment
Moved by Ms. Daniels [01:09:44] · Seconded by Jessica Ellison [01:09:50]
Mr. Maurer presented the annual census adjustment from the Minnesota State Demographer's Office, reporting an increase of 384 people, bringing the total school district population to 76,148. This population data is used to calculate funding for community education departments.
Action on School Board Policies 203.2, 208, 503, 649, and 902
Moved by Deborah Beloyed [01:11:13] · Seconded by Ms. Streiff Oji [01:11:20]
Five school board policies (203.2, 208, 503, 649, and 902) were presented for a second reading and action. No specific discussion points were raised for these policies during this segment, indicating routine approval after previous review.
Notable Quotes (18)
So when I look at the invoice register, and I think I've asked this question before, you know, there's duplicates, you know, with the exact same amount and same date and so forth. They're probably, you know, okay. But my question is, what did we do with our internal controls?
For in the minutes from the meeting on May 18th, I left at 7:04 to go attend my senior's band concert. And so all of the votes afterward that have my name in it, my name needs to be struck.
Our final recommendation is White Bear Lake Area High School Manitou Campus. Okay. And the reason that we landed on this is through our conversation is that we feel that Manitou has deep roots in our community.
I think it's really important that the kids at the ALP do understand and feel that connection to the regular high schools. So they're not just out in the wilderness somewhere, they are part of the White Bear Lake High School community.
I would say that we should leave it at 8,000 and not change it to 20,000. Because I think 20,000, you could have an inherent conflict of interest with that. So I would keep it low where 8,000 is more de minimis.
I would be interested in seeing exactly what the statute says, and I think we should align with the statute. And that just keeps it clean. Then we know that we are following state law to the letter.
I want to thank both the district's team and also the team that we worked with there. We had a really good round of bargaining and discussion. We were able to come to the table, share our perspectives, and get that done within two sessions which was lovely.
But what I really appreciated was, you know, nobody took their ball and went home. Everyone kept coming to the table. And it was a tremendous commitment of time both for our paraeducators who were represented by SEIU Local 284 and also for the district's team that kept coming and showing up to continue that dialogue.
I just wanna make the comment that our paraeducators are important part of our school system and we do appreciate them. And so we're glad that we have this done.
The expiring premium for '25-'26 was $922,832. And the new proposed rate is $856,712. That's a 7% reduction over the current year of $66,000. Great news for us, as the property and liability insurance market, as I mentioned earlier, can be very volatile.
MIST itself is about $9 billion in total insured values, and we created GovPro with these other four. Now, when we go to like the London market, we're buying roughly about $25 billion worth of values. So far greater scale, right, and we're able to drive that down so.
So workers comp or workers comp rates are calculated by two moving parts. First is that the premium scale automatically with the audited payroll of the school district. So as gross payrolls grow over time, the baseline premiums adjust along with that. So you'll see that small percentage just increase each year just based on your payroll. Second is rates are impacted by our experience mod rate.
So our X-mod rate in 2024 was 1.23, 2025, 1.25, and 2026, 1.39. And what the X-mod means at 1.39 is that our actual losses are 39% higher than the expected losses for similar businesses or school districts in our classification, right?
The state funding formula student funding formula is the core funding mechanism for public schools. And so when we look at this gap in funding from the state of Minnesota, it's a significant amount that totals $13 million in purchasing power that school districts are short today compared to where we were in 2003.
Can we just cut our expenditures another 2 million so that in our preliminary 2026-27 budget, we're at a surplus of 4.6 million. So we make up the deficit that we had from the previous year.
When we propose cuts, which we did a million dollars, can we plan way ahead? We look at lots of options, in and out of the classroom. We do the best we can to make those cuts not impact the students. And at this late stage in the game to come up with a proposal I think is irresponsible.
The period for filing affidavits for candidacy for the office school board member will be from July 14th, 2026 to July 28th, 2026. And the resolution in the board packet has been provided by our elections attorney, Peter Martin of Kennedy & Graven, to formally establish the filing dates for the 2026 School Board Election.
On June 1st, we did receive our annual census adjustment reported by the Minnesota State Demographer's Office, which shared a population adjustment for White Bear Lake Area schools to 76,148, which is an increase of 384.
Ordinances & Resolutions (20)
A collection of routine business items approved in one vote unless an item is pulled for discussion.
Previous meeting minutes requiring a correction regarding Ms. Ellison's voting record.
Specific pages in the board packet where the minutes needing correction were located.
Laws precluding personal and student matters from public discussion at the public forum.
District policy aligned with the name change process for the Alternative Learning Program.
Conflict of Interest - School Board Members policy, discussed for its provision on board members' employment relationship with the district.
School board policy, part of the first reading agenda item.
School board policy, part of the first reading agenda item.
Specific page in the board packet where Policy 210 was located.
An insurance pool comprised of Minnesota school districts for property and liability insurance.
A property program created by Gallagher for public entities across the country, now used by MIST.
District financial report referenced by Mr. Skaar for his analysis of financial trends.
Resolution to formally establish the filing dates for the 2026 School Board Election.
Used to determine total school district population for community education funding.
Reported the annual census adjustment for the school district.
School board policy, part of the action item for approval.
School board policy, part of the action item for approval.
School board policy, part of the action item for approval.
School board policy, part of the action item for approval.
School board policy, part of the action item for approval.