Lakeville Area Public Schools — Transcript
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Special Election Results Canvasing
Facility Use and Fees Update
ISD 917 Long-Term Facility Maintenance (LTFM) Plan
District 194 10-Year Long-Term Facility Maintenance (LTFM) Plan Update
Surplus Technology Equipment Sale
FY27 Budget Overview
Votes (6)
Resolution Canvasing School District Special Election Results
Moved by Tony Rankenburgger [00:04:17] · Seconded by Unknown [00:05:43]
The board quickly moved to canvass the results of the recent bond referendum election. The results confirmed the passage of Question One. Prior to the motion, public thanks were extended to all staff, election judges, and county partners for their extensive work in preparing and executing the special election, particularly highlighting efforts in sharing information about the bond referendum with the community.
Facility Use and Fees Update
Devin Reyes presented the annual facility use report, detailing demand from over 400 groups and 10,000 requests, prioritizing district and local youth use. The financial analysis showed revenue of $720,721 for FY25 and a forecast of $872,874 for FY26, against expenditures of $837,380. A key point of contention was whether fees adequately cover all costs, including wear and tear, and if a cross-subsidy from the general fund exists. The district is moving towards net-neutral costs but acknowledged not fully achieving it. Minor changes included a new parking lot fee and an adjustment to kitchen staff rates, with no general rental fee increases this year.
ISD 917 Long-Term Facility Maintenance (LTFM) Plan
Director Homegrren presented the ISD 917 LTFM plan, noting a shift from general fund to LTFM for projects, benefiting member districts' general funds. The allocation formula (50% net tax capacity, 50% student count) led to Lakeville (as the highest enrolling district with 82 students) paying a significant share. Discussion included concerns about potential cross-subsidization of other districts by Lakeville. Director Baker provided context on the high-needs nature of 917 students and the operational complexities that prevent simple per-student cost comparisons or easily bringing services in-house. The board requested further analysis on Lakeville's percentage share of 917's overall LTFM and operational costs.
District 194 10-Year Long-Term Facility Maintenance (LTFM) Plan Update
Director Homegrren presented the district's 10-year LTFM plan, emphasizing its role in preserving building integrity and supporting learning environments. The plan addresses issues like aging buildings, tight summer scheduling for repairs, and rising construction costs that contribute to a persistent $100+ million backlog of deferred maintenance, particularly impacting outdoor athletic facilities. Annual spending of approximately $20 million helps maintain current conditions but does not reduce the overall need. The board discussed the financial implications and the trade-off with taxpayer burden for larger levy requests, with a focus on prioritizing critical safety and environmental needs.
Surplus Technology Equipment Sale
Tracy Broald presented the process for selling surplus technology equipment. The district followed state statute by conducting a formal competitive bid process, receiving eight sealed bids. Total Technology was selected based on their guaranteed purchase price of $571,000, with potential for higher returns based on device condition. The funds will return to the technology fund. Discussion covered the rationale for a 4-year refresh cycle (software updates, support) and the pedagogical reasons for providing both laptops and iPads to staff. The district decided against selling devices directly to families to avoid becoming a long-term tech support provider.
FY27 Budget Overview
Bill Homegrren presented the initial FY27 budget. Key revenue increases include a 2.69% per pupil unit increase, a new $400,000 EL cross-subsidy payment, and an increase in the special education cross-subsidy to 50%, providing about $1 million in relief. However, special education transportation funding decreased by 5% ($400,000), and an MTSS grant ended. Expenditures are projected to rise faster than revenue (6% vs. 2.68% for general fund), leading to a narrower fund balance increase, though it is expected to remain above policy targets at 8.8%. Discussion included enrollment projections, the leasing strategy for student devices (a $5 million initial accounting), and cost pressures like fuel. Board members raised concerns about recess staffing and the addition of a 'seventh hour,' which are not currently addressed due to budget constraints and prioritization of classroom staffing.
Notable Quotes (20)
So, so if I was a a community member, I I I want to know, okay, um, the facilities, when you think about the facilities, one one had one would assume you already have resources for the general facility as a whole. and uh [clears throat] you because you still have to take care of the grounds, you still have to do whatever just for general school maintenance for whatever that might be. And so if we're generating or if we're charging tier one, two, and three that you know this this extra the revenue of 700 or potentially $800,000, $872,000, uh are the So the consu stakeholder may ask, are the usage costs, the usage fees, the additional usage things that are going on, does that equate to the $837,000 in of expenditures that warrant that?
No, it's not. We are not covering all of our costs, but we are so far from before we weren't covering any of our costs. You look back four years, I mean, there was nothing. So, we slowly cured it up, [laughter] but at least we're in a better position than we were a few years ago.
But but again, it then [clears throat] the the opposite effect of that would be then the kids who are not participating get that much that much more dollars less because we're off because we're offsetting them revenue, right? Because we don't have the revenue. So then it goes back to then let's be super clear and candid like how much does it cost to run user activities and let's just just just like whether we agree or disagree just align that uh and be transparent. We are in the whole a million dollars and and and and accept that out of our $300 million operation we are going to absorb a million dollars for um uh the extra cost so that we can maintain the relationships in our community.
Our facilities are maxed. We have people on weight lists in almost every building almost I would say at least nine months out of the year.
So now what you're seeing is a shift to LTFM which helps us because it shifts a little more money onto the levy and frees up dollars in our general fund. So even though it looks like an increase, which it is an increase in in this levy portion, it frees up money in the general fund which helps us in the long run.
But if we're for for every kid that we send send if it's $15,000 and Bloomington sends a kid and it's $10,000 that doesn't seem fair. So [clears throat] I guess that's what I'm trying to get to. That's all.
Um so that that has the the predicate that the formula is properly derived. Uh, and I think that's where your question lies is is the formula properly derived?
I think that um there's a lot of things that go into the formula and also go into programming for students that go to a setting for facility. And when you think of 82 students, you think, "Oh, I can divide that pretty evenly and we should be able to absorb those students." That's not how it works. You're thinking about students that need um two adults for one student. So, that's very common in a setting for and so then they'll have like those students need individual classrooms. So, you may have three students that need six adults over all of those kids just to meet the needs that are there.
We can only use LTFM on district-owned buildings. So, anything that we have leased, we cannot use these funds for. Um this building's a good example, right? Um, it has to be attached to our building per site. So, like I said before, if you take our building, you turn it upside down, everything that falls out, that's not LTFM. But anything that stays in it is LTFM.
Going forward, our plan is tried to be the same. So, every year it's going to be another $100 million. Okay. We're not we're not bringing our need down, but it's not getting necessarily worse. But there are a lot of areas that we're not touching that it could touch.
We need $100 million levy. Is that what I'm hearing? It's the board's prerogative of how much money we spend. So, we can spend more. The issue is it's going to touch your taxpayers.
As a district, we received eight total sealed bids that we looked through and we evaluated those bids on multiple criteria and one of the criteria outweighed the rest of the criteria and that was the guaranteed purchase price of the vendor.
Well, the software update problem kicks in. Uh 48 months is actually you're at 36 private sector and there's a reason for that and it's all tied to how it revs uh and how um support works. We were at 60 months as a school district uh and we figured out that uh that causes us that problem in particular.
Um yes um our staff have a uh computer device and they also have a iPad. um those who want the iPad will um take an iPad. And we do that because when the students are working on an iPad and the staff is working on a um Mac, sometimes um it doesn't uh react the same way as what a teacher would expect. And so it gives the teacher an opportunity to actually see it through the eyes of the student and um be able to replicate what the student might see on their iPad.
Um we don't want to engage in selling devices to families because then they think they might think we're the tech support to for those devices that we sold them.
The state of Minnesota gave us 2.69% uh for next year. It's $22 per pupil unit generating here about 26 to almost $2.7 million. Um EL cross subsidy. This is something brand new in the last um legislation um where we actually get a payment of 25% of any EEL costs that we have that we that were not reimbursed for. So this 400,000 is something new um for this year which is helping us out um quite a bit.
So at the city of city of Lakeville meeting, they said that they have roughly 650 units that they anticipate that they will approve this year. Uh, and it takes 6 to9 months to build a home. And I believe the gentleman said that they were on track to do the same as they did last year. And so I'm curious. Uh I think I thought I believe the formula was like 1.3 students per household or something like that.
We are uh we have accounted for all the development data that Elco Market, Credit River, and Lakeville have in the system and [clears throat] um we we are again triangulating using three demographic methods and using our internal as the priority method because we have the history and not deviating from that.
So you see our our expenditures are up about 6% where the revenue was up about less than that. That's why we see that narrowing narrowing of the increase in the uh fund balance.
I have to cut somewhere else to fit that uh to add more in there. Um we haven't finished our enrollment processes and the priority goes to staffing our teachers in our classrooms and special education, general education.
Ordinances & Resolutions (13)
The subject of the special election, with question one passing.
The official document approved to certify the election results.
Presentation materials provided for the facility use and fees update.
Official compilation of meeting materials, including the facility use slide deck.
Document outlining minor proposed changes to facility use fees.
National Institute of Standards and Technology standards for data sanitization of technology equipment.
International Organization for Standardization standards for recycling non-resalable technology equipment.
The Long-Term Facility Maintenance plan for Intermediate School District 917, discussed for approval.
District 194's Long-Term Facility Maintenance plan, presented for update and future consideration.
List of surplus technology equipment included in the competitive bid sale.
Agreement with the selected vendor for the technology equipment buyback.
The initial Fiscal Year 2027 budget overview presented to the board.
Text used in newspapers for advertising the technology equipment bid process.