[0:15] All right. Hello everybody. Thank you [0:17] for tuning in and for your interest in [0:18] learning more about the 2025 operating [0:21] levy referendum here in Wakonia public [0:23] schools. My name is Matt Thomas and I'm [0:25] the director of communications here for [0:27] the school district. And this video is [0:30] just a recorded session that we'll be [0:32] sharing on the resources page of our [0:34] referendum website. And our goal is to [0:36] provide more information for people in a [0:38] way that's convenient for you so that [0:40] you can watch and learn at a time that [0:42] works best for your schedule. So, we're [0:45] excited to kick things off today with [0:46] two important voices in our district. [0:49] First, we're joined by Wakonia High [0:51] School teacher and president of the [0:52] Wakonia Education Association, Roxan [0:55] Kersner. And then we also have [0:57] Superintendent Brian Gersuch with us. [0:59] And with that, I'll hand things over to [1:01] Superintendent Gersuch to get us [1:02] started. [1:04] >> Thanks, Matt. Uh and thanks to everyone [1:05] for taking some time to learn a little [1:07] bit about uh our referendum. Uh as Matt [1:10] said, my name is Brian Gersuch. I am the [1:11] superintendent for Wakonia Public [1:12] Schools. Uh super excited to have that [1:14] role and that capacity within our [1:16] community. The purpose of our video is [1:18] to really help highlight and give some [1:20] highle information about our referendum [1:22] and try to answer some of the questions [1:24] that people ask uh as they learn more [1:26] about that that uh that vote coming up. [1:29] Uh so that's going to certainly include [1:30] some of our history, a little bit about [1:32] our current reality, some of the future, [1:34] and just a high level summary of, you [1:36] know, why is this question before the [1:37] voters? As I enter into that, what I [1:40] also want to do is try to set the stage [1:41] for some of the slides you'll see in the [1:43] presentation, which includes survey [1:44] results. At the bottom left of the [1:46] screen, you'll notice that some of them [1:48] will be noted with the Morris Leatherman [1:50] Community Survey. That's an independent [1:52] survey that was commissioned by the [1:54] board uh last spring to really [1:56] understand some of the atmospherics or [1:58] the reputation of the district. How does [2:00] the community feel about its public [2:01] schools? As well as understanding the [2:04] support in the community for potential [2:06] funding requests, which certainly is a [2:08] part of what resulted from this fall. [2:10] Making helping the board understand what [2:12] would the community support if anything [2:13] when it came down to to requests for [2:15] funding. But SP starting with some of [2:18] those results from the Morris Leman [2:19] survey. You'll notice on the screen that [2:21] 91% of the re residents uh responded uh [2:25] that the quality of education provided [2:27] by Wakonia public schools was either [2:29] excellent or good. 88% [2:32] uh agree that the district is receiving [2:34] good value from its investment in public [2:36] schools and 87% of the residents uh in [2:39] the survey said that they trusted the [2:41] school board and the administration to [2:43] do what's right for the children in the [2:45] in the district. You know, I I'm [2:47] starting my fourth year and as I've [2:49] talked with the people who've worked in [2:50] our district for many years, we've [2:51] always felt a strong sense of community [2:54] support within our public schools. And [2:56] it's really nice to see that the survey [2:58] results really did help to validate and [3:00] qualify some of that feeling of [3:03] community support. It's important for us [3:05] to schools to acknowledge that we really [3:07] do believe that strong public schools [3:10] play a role in creating strong [3:12] communities. But what we enjoy in [3:13] Wakonia public schools is also super uh [3:17] strong community support which helps [3:19] create some of our strong schools as [3:21] well with the partnerships uh and the [3:23] opportunities that are provided by the [3:24] community within our schools. And so [3:26] what we enjoy in Waconia is a positive [3:28] reinforcement loop between our schools [3:30] and our community that we feel very [3:32] proud of and very proud to be a part of. [3:35] What brings us here today uh is that we [3:38] are at a bit of a financial crossroads [3:39] for district 110. Uh and as we look at [3:42] some of the projections and some of the [3:43] information I'll provide later, I'll [3:45] give some details as to what that looks [3:46] like. School funding is a part of a [3:49] legislative process, meaning every two [3:50] years we have an understanding from the [3:52] legislature as to how schools are funded [3:54] from the state and state funding largely [3:57] has not kept up with inflation over the [3:59] years. And this is something where even [4:01] you know some of the questions that we [4:03] get talk about some of the new funding [4:04] that has come to schools and it's [4:06] important to acknowledge that often that [4:08] new revenue from the state comes with [4:10] new expectations for how it is spent. Um [4:13] so we're not alone. There are many [4:15] districts, including some in our in our [4:17] general area, that are going to the [4:19] voters for additional revenues. Some are [4:21] cutting budgets. Some are doing both, [4:23] and there are districts out there that [4:25] can't go out for new money uh because [4:27] they've been capped at the state max. [4:29] And we'll look at some of those [4:30] examples. Again, I'm not here to tell [4:31] their stories. I'm here to tell the [4:33] story of Wakonia Public Schools and some [4:34] of the specifics behind ours, but [4:36] helping to acknowledge that there are [4:37] other districts that are in a similar [4:39] place. Our referendum uh our request is [4:43] not about trying to find new exciting [4:45] things or to bring in uh the latest [4:48] greatest program. This is really about [4:50] maintaining what we believe matters most [4:52] to our district which is the people who [4:54] work here, the programs that people are [4:55] excited to be a part of and certainly [4:57] protecting class sizes that are [4:59] important to our to our kids, to our [5:01] community, and to our staff. And the [5:03] first one of those is prioritizing [5:05] people. And what we understand is that [5:07] in public education, nobody went into [5:08] these fields to become rich. But we need [5:11] to make sure that we are competing and [5:13] recruiting high quality staff and by [5:15] offering competitive salaries and [5:16] benefits to make sure that we are uh [5:18] retaining the people um in a competitive [5:21] market for for education. Um, with that, [5:25] what I do want to do is bring in the [5:26] voice of Roxanne Kersner, who's been [5:28] great at, uh, offering some of the [5:30] teacher perspective when it comes down [5:31] to this and the competitive nature and [5:33] what it means to, you know, work to [5:34] prioritize people within our district. [5:38] >> Hi, thank you for having me here today. [5:40] Uh, it has changed a lot. I've been in [5:42] the the teaching field for 32 years now, [5:44] and you know, it used to be that the the [5:47] school that you started at was probably [5:48] the school that you ended at. teachers [5:50] did not move from district to district [5:52] to district uh because it was hard to [5:54] match the wage if you went to another [5:56] district. But with the teacher shortage [5:57] that everywhere has, that is not the [6:00] case anymore. A lot of schools are in [6:02] the market to hire experienced teachers. [6:05] So, uh we need to match the the pay of [6:09] districts around us so that we can keep [6:11] the teachers that we have at Wakonia so [6:13] that they start here and they feel [6:15] supported here and they end here. [6:18] Because like I said, it's not the same [6:20] as it used to be. Teachers can now like [6:22] people that are in the business world [6:23] can go shop around, look for better uh [6:26] opportunities at other districts and we [6:28] don't want that to happen. We want the [6:29] teachers to feel like Wonia is the best [6:32] opportunity that this is the district [6:34] that they want to have their entire [6:36] career at. We need to keep these quality [6:38] teachers. [6:41] >> Thank you, Roxan. And and we know for [6:43] people who have paid attention and been [6:44] a part of Okconia schools that if we [6:46] look back a couple years ago, we had a [6:48] difficult round of negotiations with our [6:49] employees and we acknowledge that. But [6:51] we have been working together in [6:53] partnership to create, you know, fair [6:55] competitive uh com comparable districts [6:59] and create a a vision for what it looks [7:01] like to have a competitive salary and [7:02] benefits. We understand and know there [7:04] are some districts we cannot compete [7:06] with, but we must compete with the [7:07] districts that we can. So we are [7:09] retaining the quality staff and again a [7:12] part of that we recognize we need to do [7:14] some market correcting because of where [7:15] the district has been. Again I'll talk [7:17] more about that in a minute but making [7:19] sure that we have that opportunity to [7:20] invest and also having manageable class [7:22] sizes which also impacts the experience [7:24] of our teachers. When I go back to these [7:26] surveys, this one is not a Morris [7:28] Leatherman survey. This is a survey we [7:30] give within our district each spring. [7:32] And last spring, 95% of our teachers and [7:35] staff say that they're proud to work for [7:37] district 110. And 93% of the residents, [7:40] back to that Morris Leatherman [7:42] independent survey, rated the [7:44] performance of our teachers and [7:45] instructional staff as excellent or [7:47] good. We like to make sure people [7:49] realize our teachers and staff are proud [7:52] to be here and the community says that [7:53] they are doing a fantastic job educating [7:56] our kids. We have to have competitive [7:58] salaries and and benefits in a very [8:00] competitive market to ensure that we [8:02] attract and retain that quality staff. [8:05] What we're also looking to do with this [8:06] referendum is to preserve programs. Back [8:10] to our survey, in addition to the [8:11] quality teachers that we have, when [8:13] residents are asked what they like most [8:15] about their schools, they talk about our [8:16] academics and our programs and [8:18] curriculars. That's both in and out of [8:21] the classroom. and 91% of our students [8:24] would say that they are engaged in their [8:26] school. We want to continue to be able [8:28] to offer those things. And if we have to [8:30] reduce our budget, what is at risk is a [8:33] lot of those programs and opportunities, [8:35] particularly within our secondary site, [8:37] it is about those electives and those [8:39] enriched opportunities that tend to have [8:41] some lower enrollments that become at [8:43] risk. It makes it more difficult to run [8:45] those classes. And certainly the through [8:47] line through everything is protecting [8:49] class sizes. class sizes impacts the [8:52] experience certainly of our staff and [8:54] manageable workloads and it impacts the [8:56] experience of our kids both uh in the [8:59] context they've got additional [9:00] classmates and don't get that same level [9:02] of attention within the classroom but we [9:04] also know in Wakonia schools we have [9:05] students that are very motivated and [9:07] competitive and what they strive for is [9:09] feedback and that feedback becomes [9:11] difficult to give when teachers have [9:13] additional students in the classroom. [9:16] When we went through budget reductions [9:17] in 2023, [9:20] we were really largely able to protect [9:22] the main class sizes of our elementary [9:25] students. If we need to do budget [9:27] reductions again, it becomes very [9:29] difficult to protect those class sizes [9:31] again because what happens if the [9:33] referendum is voted down, we have to [9:36] repeat that process, but we don't have [9:37] nearly as many options to reduce our [9:40] budget. And therefore, we know it's [9:42] going to impact people. We will have to [9:44] have staffing reductions. We know when [9:46] we did an analysis within fair [9:48] comparisons, we need to invest in our [9:49] salaries and benefits with a market [9:51] correction to catch back up to where we [9:53] really should be for competitive [9:55] salaries and benefits. And certainly the [9:57] impact of class sizes. The through line [9:59] is going to be additional management [10:01] within our classrooms and for our staff. [10:04] People might ask why do we cut so many [10:06] uh staffing? Why not cut from other [10:08] areas? 80% of our budget is tied to [10:11] staffing by salaries and benefits. We [10:14] are a human service profession. We [10:16] cannot make significant reductions [10:17] without it impacting staffing and [10:19] certainly again that impacts our [10:20] programming and the opportunities that [10:22] we talked about before and the [10:24] throughine of class sizes are things [10:25] that end up having to be increased. So [10:28] what is the question before the voters? [10:30] It is an operating referendum of $731 [10:33] per pupil which equates to roughly $3 [10:35] million annually over the next 10 years [10:38] which would also include uh an [10:40] inflationary factor. In a minute, I'm [10:42] going to get into some additional pieces [10:43] of actual financial uh side of of some [10:46] of the questions that we would receive. [10:48] Uh but I'm going to pause just for a [10:49] second and see if uh Matt if I've missed [10:51] anything to date or if Roxan if there's [10:53] anything you'd want to provide. [10:55] >> Yeah, I was just wondering if we could [10:56] bring Roxanne back in really quick. Um [10:58] just to go back to that class size [11:00] piece. I think Roxan, you offer um some [11:02] good perspective when Brian's talking [11:04] about class sizes. um how you know how a [11:08] class size of 25 to 35 can make a [11:11] difference not just for you as a teacher [11:13] but for the students in your classroom. [11:15] Well, yeah. I mean, it used to be, you [11:17] know, when I first started here teaching [11:19] in the sciences, we would kind of cap [11:20] our classes, try to keep it around 24 [11:22] for labs and give those kids a really [11:25] good experience. And that was in all of [11:26] the classes. We were able to do that, [11:27] but Wakonia has been growing since then, [11:29] luckily. And thankfully, uh, but now I [11:33] have class sizes of 36. And it's just [11:36] hard to get around to all of those [11:37] students during work time to give them [11:40] some one-on-one attention, which Waconia [11:42] kids have. They're so motivated and they [11:45] really thrive on that student and [11:47] teacher contact. I mean, what student [11:49] doesn't, right? So, when you have a [11:51] class of 36 in any field, it's just hard [11:54] to give those kids that one-on-one [11:56] attention in the classroom and then also [11:59] it it's now you have more of their work, [12:02] more labs, more tests to correct [12:04] throughout the day uh to give that [12:05] feedback in a timely manner. And as [12:07] everybody knows, that's the only way [12:09] that students can one of the only ways [12:11] that they can improve is to have [12:12] meaningful feedback. And with large [12:14] class sizes, that just gets really [12:16] difficult. [12:18] >> Thanks, Roxan. [12:24] >> Okay, Brian, do you want to get back [12:26] into some of the financial side of of [12:29] this? We'll we'll talk about uh where we [12:32] get some of our money. We'll talk about [12:34] the tax impact of this referendum. We'll [12:36] get into a bunch of different things uh [12:38] on the financial side here. [12:40] >> Great. Thanks, Matt. So, uh starting [12:42] with a high level understanding, where [12:44] does the district get our money? The [12:46] largest portion of the district's [12:47] revenue comes from the state of [12:49] Minnesota at about 78%. [12:51] What's important for people to [12:53] understand is that within the context of [12:56] money from the state, schools are not [12:58] funded the same. So if you look at the [13:01] starting point for what we get to the [13:03] from the state, Wakonia public schools [13:05] and you'll notice some of the districts [13:06] in our area starts in the bottom 2% of [13:08] all districts in the state for revenue [13:11] on a per pupil basis coming from the [13:13] state. The student is not a student when [13:15] funded from the state. There are [13:17] different categories of funding that [13:19] depend on what a student may qualify [13:21] for. One of the largest categories is uh [13:25] compensatory money which is a measure of [13:27] of additional money for students who [13:29] tend to qualify for free or reduced [13:31] price lunch. Uh that's just one of many [13:33] categories but it's a starting point [13:35] which clearly un hopefully people [13:37] understand makes us more dependent on [13:40] the local community when it comes down [13:41] to funding to support our schools. [13:44] There's also some general myths that [13:46] we're trying to help people understand [13:47] within the community because we hear [13:48] this often. People have this tendency to [13:50] think that because Wakone is growing, it [13:53] must mean we're getting additional [13:54] revenue and it must mean we're getting [13:56] additional students. The starting point [13:58] is to remember is that when comes down [14:00] to our funding from an operating [14:03] perspective, it is based on how many [14:06] students that we have. So if we have [14:08] more students, we do get more funding. [14:10] Outside of that, we do not. Within our [14:12] community, we have to understand that [14:13] more houses don't automatically mean [14:15] more students. There are certainly [14:17] social changes in that there are fewer [14:19] kids per household. I've had [14:21] conversations with our local hospital [14:23] before with our officials there uh who [14:26] help us understand that even in spite of [14:27] the growth of Carver County, the total [14:30] number of births has remained relatively [14:32] flat. So we have to understand there are [14:33] fewer kids per household and technically [14:36] right now if we look at our audit [14:37] reports there are fewer schoolage [14:40] children living in our district than [14:42] have been over the years. Um, the other [14:44] thing to understand is with all these [14:45] new hoses, who's buying them? Are they [14:48] young families coming in and having kids [14:49] within our schools? Or I've met a number [14:51] of people who've told me that they've [14:52] moved here to be around their grandkids, [14:54] not necessarily to be having kids. Now, [14:57] certainly with the growth of the housing [14:58] in our community, I expect that we will [15:00] see our student population grow, but [15:03] right now that has not happened. The [15:05] other thing that people try to think [15:06] about or try to uh understand is how the [15:09] schools are not getting more money with [15:11] all these new houses paying taxes. And [15:13] it comes back to remembering what I said [15:15] on the front end. Our funding is [15:17] determined on the number of students. [15:19] And so when houses come in and are [15:21] built, unless they bring in new [15:23] students, yes, they're paying taxes to [15:25] the school, but what that's doing is [15:26] it's putting it into the same pie or [15:29] taking it from the same pie as the [15:31] district is already getting, which kind [15:32] of dilutes everyone else's shares. And [15:35] so again, if if many people were to look [15:37] at their tax statements over time, [15:39] you'll notice over the last few years, [15:40] for for many, including the house that I [15:43] had, uh school portions of the property [15:47] tax statements have been declining. [15:48] albeit slightly. Well, even though the [15:50] overall tax bill has been going up. So, [15:52] it's important to understand that new [15:54] houses don't necessarily bring new money [15:56] to the schools, it is about students. [16:00] Thinking about how we spend our money, [16:02] regular and special education as well as [16:04] pupil and instructional support, direct [16:07] services to our students takes up more [16:09] than threequarters of our budget. A [16:12] number of people ask about [16:13] administrative costs and I totally [16:15] understand that because we want to keep [16:16] those resources close to our students. [16:19] But I want to make sure people [16:20] understand that when it comes to Wakonia [16:22] public schools, I've done a lot of [16:24] analysis on how districts spend per [16:26] pupil. And if I look at site level [16:29] administration, the people at the [16:31] building level like our principles and [16:32] assistant principles, Wakonia schools [16:35] spend less on a per student basis than [16:37] any district have ever been able to [16:39] find. And I have not run the analysis [16:41] for all 330 districts in the state. I [16:44] have done this for a number of years in [16:46] different districts of different size. [16:47] And I have not found one that spends [16:48] less per pupil on site level [16:50] administration. And I've only found one [16:53] statewide. You'll see it's not in our [16:55] comparison that spends less on total [16:57] administration on a per pupil basis than [17:00] Laconia schools. I do believe we've done [17:02] a nice job keeping our administrative [17:04] costs low, which is important. I realize [17:07] the other thing I said earlier is that [17:09] about 80% of our budget is in salaries [17:11] and benefits. You'll notice from this [17:13] graph 77.5% [17:16] of our district funds goes towards [17:18] salaries and benefits. The next largest [17:20] portion of our spending is for purchase [17:22] services which includes Southwest Metro [17:25] where we send some of our students for [17:26] specialized programming and [17:28] transportation. And certainly within [17:30] those costs are also salaries and [17:32] benefits. Again, we're a human service [17:34] profession. That's why it's very [17:36] difficult to ever reduce our budget with [17:38] any substance without impacting salaries [17:41] and benefits is because that's how we [17:43] spend our funds. [17:45] This is a graphic that shows the general [17:47] fund balance history for Wakonia [17:49] schools. I bring it up to say that I [17:51] acknowledge that there are some unique [17:52] things about the Wakonia schools funding [17:54] and spending history and we totally [17:57] understand that there's a story there to [17:59] tell. Our our goal today is to focus [18:01] forward. But if people would like more [18:03] information about what happened, why was [18:05] the district in debt for so long, there [18:07] are resources on our website, including [18:09] a forensic audit report that was ordered [18:11] by the school board in the fall of 2021, [18:14] uh, and other presentation materials to [18:16] help people understand. The bottom line [18:18] is it was increasing expenses with flat [18:22] revenues, which is essentially saying [18:24] overspending of our budget. And again, [18:27] we acknowledge that, but you'll see [18:28] through here, I believe we've taken [18:30] several steps to correct that process [18:32] and ensure that we are living within our [18:34] means as a district. So, looking at a [18:36] little bit of the timeline of the [18:38] district, our community has been [18:40] generous when it comes down to offering [18:42] additional operating funds. And in 2018, [18:45] as we entered into statutory operating [18:47] debt for the first time, the district [18:49] passed a $525 per student operating [18:52] levy. And then during the pandemic, two [18:54] years later, another $410 per student. [18:58] Both of those came with inflationary [19:00] factors and were to run for 10 years [19:03] with the acknowledgement that in the [19:05] 2023 legislative session, school boards [19:08] can extend those for another 10 years. [19:12] So for the same duration and same [19:14] amount. So in theory, those could be [19:16] pushed out for another 10 years beyond [19:18] their original. You'll notice again too [19:21] 525 plus inflation 410 plus inflation. [19:25] So when we get to the next slide and say [19:26] where does that put us? You'll see that [19:29] that's larger than the sum of those two [19:31] numbers because of the inflationary [19:33] factors. This is where from an operating [19:36] perspective now Wonia schools compares [19:39] to some of our neighbors. And as I said [19:42] before, there are some districts, so if [19:44] you look at the Minnotonka on this [19:45] graph, they are maxed out in their local [19:48] ability to uh approve additional [19:50] operating funding uh for their schools. [19:53] They can't go to the voters if they if [19:55] they voters would say yes. So where does [19:57] that put us now from a ranking [19:58] perspective? Wonia schools based on that [20:01] comes to the top of the lowest cortile. [20:05] And if you'll notice those other two [20:06] comparisons that started at relatively [20:08] 11% and 2% about where we were uh now go [20:12] into the top half of funding. That is [20:15] just from operating funds. What many [20:17] districts also have is what's called a [20:20] capital projects levy. Also a voter [20:22] approved uh source of money. Often [20:25] what's that used for and became very [20:27] popular for is technology costs. Wakonia [20:30] schools takes our technology costs out [20:32] of our general fund. Other districts [20:35] have a different revenue stream to pay [20:37] for those. So if you look at West Tonka [20:39] all the way to the right, and I have [20:41] nothing against West Tonka, they are [20:42] good people and they do a nice job and I [20:44] used to work there. So I'm not picking [20:46] on them. This is just a comparison from [20:47] a budget perspective. In the previous [20:50] slide, you we showed how Wanka ends up [20:53] roughly $1,000 per student more than [20:56] Waconia when it comes down to our [20:58] operating funds. So $1,000 per student [21:01] times about $4,000 students is about $4 [21:03] million. In addition, they have the [21:06] equivalent of roughly $1,000 per student [21:09] for their capital projects or their [21:10] technology. So that's another roughly $4 [21:14] million if it was equivalent for a total [21:17] of $8 million of equivalent funding if [21:19] it was the same per student between [21:21] those two districts. So again, that's [21:24] why it is often times difficult to [21:26] compete and I do believe Wakone schools [21:27] does a nice job competing when we have [21:30] that kind of difference in our funding [21:31] and our resources. So, as you go back to [21:34] our timeline, I was hired in the uh in [21:36] the summer of 2022 and in 2023, which [21:40] was my first year here, we decided to go [21:43] for $4.6 million worth of budget [21:45] adjustments, which is largely cuts. I [21:48] bring it up in the timeline to note that [21:49] there were a number of people within the [21:51] community who wanted the district and [21:53] advised the board we should go for an [21:55] operating referendum at that time. It [21:57] was my recommendation and certainly the [21:59] belief of the board that that would not [22:00] be prudent. We had a history in spite of [22:04] bringing in additional revenue of not um [22:08] spending our way back into a healthy [22:10] financial position. This graphic [22:12] generally I've used to demonstrate how [22:14] we brought in new revenue streams of $2 [22:16] million plus in that first operating [22:19] referendum that passed during the 1819 [22:22] school year. So that would be FY19. So [22:24] the new money comes in thereafter and [22:27] additional in the 2021 school year. And [22:30] in spite of that, we made up $400,000 of [22:33] debt with roughly 12 million new dollars [22:35] coming into the district. We understood [22:37] we needed to live within our means and [22:39] demonstrate what it looks like. That's [22:40] why those budget reductions happened. [22:43] And they were largely across the board [22:45] and we tried to cut uh as equitably [22:48] across our system as we could. But [22:49] again, we acknowledge it was a lot of [22:51] people because that's where we spend our [22:53] money, salaries and benefits. We've [22:55] tightened up that belt and we've lived [22:57] within our means. [22:59] The other factor that came into play, [23:01] and I mentioned before, we had some [23:02] difficult negotiations within our [23:05] employee groups, which I think people [23:07] should have some empathy realizing that [23:09] our employees work really hard and the [23:11] community says they do a nice job. And [23:13] in spite of that, when we go in and have [23:15] our bargaining groups negotiate and the [23:17] district continues to be in a negative [23:18] financial position, that gets [23:20] frustrating. in thanks in large part to [23:23] their willingness to look at this [23:24] differently. And we instead of doing the [23:26] typical two-year contract settlements, [23:28] which is what you would see in most [23:29] districts, we did two consecutive [23:32] two-year contracts, acknowledging that [23:34] our employees got little to no increases [23:36] in in salaries and benefits in that [23:38] first contract with deferring a lot of [23:40] those increases until the second [23:42] contract again. And also acknowledging [23:44] that that will still likely leave us [23:45] behind where we need to be. that with [23:48] our budget reductions and a mild winter [23:50] really did help us achieve that first [23:52] positive fund balance since 2017. [23:56] Um, and it's just notable, too, [23:59] realistically by policy we should have [24:02] almost $3 million fund balance. That's a [24:05] 5% of our total expenditures by district [24:08] policy. Healthy school districts should [24:10] really have eight to 10%. Uh so that [24:13] really means we should have closer to [24:14] five between five and $6 million of a [24:16] fund balance so that we can sustain [24:18] through the life happen moments of you [24:21] know cold winters and people you know [24:23] people who are sick or other kinds of [24:25] things that happen within the course of [24:27] a year. Again, I've infused some of that [24:30] Morris Leatherman survey that was given [24:31] in the spring of 2025, and we're now [24:34] asking the community for support. And [24:35] many people might ask, if we now have a [24:37] positive fund balance, if now we're [24:38] moving in the direction, but we believe [24:40] we've tightened up the belt, why is it [24:42] we need to ask for additional support? [24:44] It's that we start to look at the [24:45] projections. We have to think about our [24:47] funding in a long-term way, not [24:49] yearbyear. And we see in FY27, which is [24:53] the 2627 school year, we start to [24:57] deficit spend again. We continue to [24:59] build up our fund balance, but then we [25:01] see that tipping down, that turning [25:03] point um that we'll talk about as to the [25:05] why here in a second. That gap, which [25:08] again, we have already not achieved [25:10] where we need to be from a fund balance [25:12] perspective, is the problem. And there [25:14] are two ways to correct that problem. [25:16] There's two ways to make sure that we [25:18] don't go back into a deficit spending [25:19] position. The first path is to increase [25:22] revenue. That's what the referendum is [25:24] about is to ask for additional resources [25:26] from the community to to to plug that [25:29] gap. The other path is to reduce [25:31] expenses reductions. So again that is [25:34] why I say what happens or first um I'm [25:38] sorry it was earlier in the slide when I [25:40] say what happens if it does not pass we [25:42] have to reduce expenses which is cuts [25:45] which is largely staffing class sizes uh [25:48] and programs and opportunities. Why do [25:50] we see that downturn again higher costs [25:53] associated with those salaries and [25:54] benefits? Salaries and benefits that we [25:56] also understand still need a market [25:58] correction within them. Those were [26:00] deferred raises in the structure of that [26:02] deal which allowed us to work our way [26:04] onto the positive side of our of our um [26:07] of our balance sheet with still the need [26:09] to continue to address that. Um we have [26:12] increased costs associated with purchase [26:14] services. The largest of which is [26:16] transportation. We have a fantastic [26:18] partner for the transportation of our [26:20] kids with drivers who love kids and a [26:22] business that does a great job treating [26:24] us well as a as a as a partner. But we [26:27] understand their costs go up and as the [26:29] customer our costs go up as well. So [26:31] that is a significant increase that [26:33] we're seeing. Mandates when it comes [26:35] down to additional costs that we have to [26:37] pay for teacher retirement association, [26:40] payroll tax, that's any business in [26:42] Minnesota understands the need to budget [26:45] for payroll tax and general inflation of [26:47] goods that people are seeing. And with [26:49] that coupled also relatively flat [26:51] revenue. We have a very slight uh fairly [26:54] stable but a slightly declining [26:56] enrollment and legislative funding that [26:58] we talked about on the front end. Uh [27:00] more recently there are some reductions [27:02] in revenues that districts will be [27:04] getting for funding which certainly [27:07] impacts and we must plug that from the [27:10] general fund as well. [27:12] So again as we come back around to a [27:14] little bit of that timeline we project a [27:15] negative fund balance. We do not intend [27:18] to go into debt again. We need to manage [27:22] our budget and that's that's a decision [27:24] we will certainly be recommending to the [27:26] board. But there's two ways to prevent [27:28] that from happening. Increasing revenues [27:29] or decrease expendance expenditures. [27:32] That's what our referendum is about. [27:33] Again, prioritizing people, preserving [27:35] programs, and protecting class sizes. [27:37] People may ask, so what is that going to [27:40] cost the the the homeowner? The median [27:43] priced home in the Wakonia public [27:44] schools area is $450,000. [27:46] The cost of that would be roughly $27 [27:49] per month. A homeowner can also go to [27:52] our website, follow this QR code, and [27:54] you can look up your home. You would [27:57] could go into one of the two counties [27:59] and uh put in your address, get your [28:01] parcel information, plug that in, and it [28:04] would give an estimate of what the [28:05] property tax impact would be on your [28:08] specific home as well. The last thing [28:11] I'm going to note here, and then I'm [28:12] going to ask uh Matt, Roxanne once again [28:14] if they want to add anything to this, is [28:16] voting information. Uh, voting is now [28:18] open and so people have the opportunity [28:20] to vote once they know all the way up [28:22] through election day on November 4th. I [28:25] think it's important just to note this [28:26] is the only question on the referendum [28:29] and so once people have an understanding [28:31] of how they feel and what their opinion [28:32] is on the Wonia schools referendum, we [28:35] encourage you to vote and to cast that [28:37] ballot. I know in other election years [28:39] sometimes people want to wait for uh the [28:41] debate between a couple of other [28:42] candidates that are also on the ballot [28:44] uh so they can understand who they want [28:45] to vote for in all areas and I would say [28:48] I certainly understand as a voter myself [28:49] that I would do that in this situation. [28:52] We have information available. This is [28:53] the only question on the ballot. So we [28:55] encourage you once you know uh your [28:57] opinion you have that opportunity to to [28:59] cast that ballot. All right. I am going [29:01] to pause and I'm going to ask Matt and [29:03] uh certainly Roxanne if you have [29:04] anything too. Are there anything that [29:06] I've missed or things that we need to [29:07] clarify? [29:09] >> Thank you, Brian. Uh, the only thing [29:11] that uh I I want to share with people is [29:13] if you're seeking more information, [29:15] there is a website out there. It's [29:17] www.isd110referendum.org. [29:22] Again, that's isd10referendum.org. [29:26] And also check your mailboxes. You [29:29] should also be getting a [29:30] coupleformational [29:31] fact-based pieces uh over the next 30 to [29:35] 45 days uh in your mailboxes as a [29:38] resident of the district. And obviously [29:40] if you have questions um that myself uh [29:44] or Superintendent Gersuch can answer, we [29:47] do also have an email address set up [29:50] where people can email in questions and [29:53] that is ISD10 [29:56] voteisd110.org.