Um that is an effort that will be fully funded by our student nutrition services fund, which has got a significant surplus in it, and the state of Minnesota has only very recently given school districts flexibility to spend some of those dollars on functions that are um related to nutrition services.

Um we also hope that the students will be able to use it for fundraising and student entrepreneurship, but they will have to follow the healthy snack guidelines. Thank you, Michelle Obama.

I am recommending that the holiday of Eid al-Adha that falls on a school day not be a school day in this year because we have seen as Carl will mention significantly higher absenteeism on those days as students are celebrating their faith and so that our lawyers tell us is an appropriate reason to not schedule a day because those students we know from multiple years of evidence will be likely otherwise engaged.

I'm thankful that you that the district did its research and it only makes sense to move as this calendar reflects and job well done. And I think it's also important that not that messaging needs to occur, but but I think there's a value to be derived by uh uh student participation and and for me that's where the impetus for this occurred.

You can see our Director of Finance Andy Crockstead is coming up and he will be walking us through a very complex budget proposal one that I think meets the needs of the district's educational agenda while also being a responsible fiscal stewards of the public's resources.

The board did authorize uh strategic use of fund balance. And as we think about the unassigned fund balance specifically, those are the dollars this board has to use at its discretion. And so this can be used in any purpose you so choose. They're not restricted in any way other than by law.

It's a very very important issue and um an under appreciated reality of the discussions in the last session is that there was bipartisan support for this. Um it's a major priority for our friends at Education Minnesota, which I understand. They did have Republican support for it. So I think it's very much something for us to be watching for. In any scenario it would be a massive increase in the total cost of funding for health care. The big question is who pays for that increase?

I asked that we have either a study session or agenda item where we really dig deep into what our special education funding looks like. It's very complicated. I was on a Zoom call with MSBA this morning. I everyone is terrifying when I talk about when they talk about the subject and the very limited um the very limited ways that are available to avoid some serious consequences of these cuts.

Um the Minnesota state credit enhancement rating that is issued by S&P as part of their process is the highest rating that they give, which is a triple A. That is the same rating that our state has, so under the state program you get that triple A credit enhanced um rating.

The estimate that we had in our pre-sale report was 4.30, so we are under that. And the lower interest rate resulted in principal and interest payments that are about 1.1 million lower than what was in our pre-sale estimates.

Um is there anything in particular that you would uh counsel the school district to focus on in terms of our finances in order to receive uh favorable results like this in future offerings?

So, certainly maintaining the level of reserves is something that they focus on. We talk about that a lot. Um you'll notice in the detailed credit opinion that they mentioned your operating referendum. So, that was a credit credit positive for you for sure to have that support from your local community and know that you have that additional funding now secured for at least 10 years.