[0:04] All right. Good evening everyone. I'd

[0:06] like to welcome you to the Oregon School

[0:08] District. This is um our annual meeting.

[0:11] So, we are here at the Oregon High

[0:13] School Innovation Center, uh, located at

[0:16] 5456 North Perry Parkway in Oregon,

[0:18] Wisconsin, 53575, Monday, September

[0:22] 28th, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. So, great to see

[0:26] so many um, Oregon School District

[0:28] residents here joining us to uh, hear a

[0:31] state of the district. So, for tonight,

[0:33] we're going to start our meeting with

[0:34] the budget hearing. So, I will call this

[0:37] meeting to order. Uh, my name is Troy

[0:39] Pankratz. the president of the Oregon

[0:41] Board of Education.

[0:43] And with that, I will um

[0:47] so I've called this meeting to order and

[0:50] pursuant to our Wisconsin statute

[0:52] section 120.08. This is our annual

[0:55] meeting. This meeting is prescribed by

[0:57] state law and our electors are invited

[0:59] to attend. As electors, we have special

[1:01] powers reserved to us as a body and

[1:03] these powers are outlined in state

[1:05] statute. This meeting will be conducted

[1:08] according to the rules of parliamentary

[1:10] procedure. We have an agenda for the

[1:13] meeting that will be our guide. There

[1:15] are sample motions in the annual meeting

[1:18] this evening and those sample uh motions

[1:20] I think it's the green sheet purple purple sheet. So

[1:27] those are uh sample motions that you may

[1:30] use. And um now I would like to

[1:34] introduce the members of the Oregon

[1:36] School District. So again, my name is

[1:37] Troy Pankratz, president. And um I will

[1:40] introduce our members and uh just ask

[1:43] that you stand. Um starting with Mary

[1:45] Luda. Mary is our vice president.

[1:48] Mary's here. Uh Leslie Wright is our

[1:52] schoolboard clerk.

[1:55] Uh Mr. Nathan Hensel is not here this

[1:57] evening, but he serves as our treasurer.

[2:00] And then we have Dr. Kayla Bush here in

[2:02] the audience

[2:05] and Matt Ledbet here in the audience.

[2:08] And we also have Heather Garrison uh

[2:11] board member who um I I do expect her to

[2:14] join us uh later on this evening.

[2:18] So with that, we will move to the budget

[2:21] hearing and we're going to begin this

[2:23] pursuant to Wisconsin state statutes

[2:25] 6590.

[2:26] You have copies of the preliminary

[2:28] budget that were on the table in the

[2:30] packet. And at this point, I'll turn it

[2:32] over to our executive de director of

[2:34] business operations, Dr. Nick Reichoff.

[2:36] And uh Dr. Reichoff will present the

[2:39] preliminary budget that was approved by

[2:41] our board on September 14th, 2026.

[2:45] Welcome, Dr. Reichoff.

[2:47] >> Thank you.

[2:53] » All right. Uh welcome everybody. Thanks

[2:55] for being here tonight to hear about the

[2:57] school district budget. Um for our

[2:59] budget hearing tonight, um I will be

[3:02] presenting. I am the executive director

[3:04] of operations. So I work with the seven

[3:06] departments that are kind of on the

[3:09] non-eing and learning non-personnel part

[3:11] of the district. So that includes

[3:12] aquatics, buildings and grounds, the

[3:14] budget and finance, which is why I'm

[3:16] here tonight. Um community ed, the PAC,

[3:19] school nutrition, and transportation.

[3:21] So, those are the operations departments

[3:23] that I work with at our school district

[3:24] office. And um when we think about what

[3:28] we're doing here tonight, we're really

[3:29] focusing in on the board of education

[3:32] strategic priority in ensuring the

[3:34] future financial health of the school

[3:36] district. And so, of course, uh the

[3:39] budget uh touches every part of our

[3:42] school district, right? The the school

[3:44] district's budget is really our beliefs

[3:46] and priorities in dollar form. And so

[3:48] they impact everything that we do across

[3:50] the district. But um what we really are

[3:53] doing tonight and what we're doing with

[3:54] all of the electors being invited

[3:56] tonight is ensuring that our community

[3:57] has an understanding of the school

[4:00] district's financial health and where

[4:01] we're heading into this coming school

[4:03] year. So there'll be three parts to my

[4:05] presentation tonight. The first part

[4:07] will be actually looking backwards uh to

[4:09] the 2526

[4:11] uh budget that we just completed. Um so

[4:14] I'll give a brief financial report. Uh I

[4:17] always will take every opportunity I can

[4:19] uh when we're in front of people to just

[4:21] uh start breaking down Wisconsin school

[4:23] finance. So we'll do a little bit of

[4:25] Wisconsin school finance 101 and then

[4:27] we'll look forward or actually maybe

[4:29] look to the present because we've

[4:31] already started the 26 27 uh fiscal

[4:34] year. Uh but we'll uh talk more about

[4:37] what that uh preliminary budget that

[4:39] we'll be talking about tonight and that

[4:41] the board will do a final approval of in

[4:43] October. So looking backward to 2526 um

[4:47] there's some highlights that I want to

[4:48] make sure that we we talk about um Andy

[4:51] Wland the person uh who preceded me in

[4:54] this role as well as our finance

[4:56] director Cara Newton have done a a

[4:58] fantastic job really ensuring that the

[5:00] school district is operating in a

[5:01] healthy way. So when we look at our

[5:03] revenues and expenditures for 2526 we

[5:06] were almost spot on right. So if we look

[5:10] at being off.27%

[5:14] um that's really close in a 7080 million

[5:19] budget and so that's like expecting us

[5:21] to get $100 and we got $10027,

[5:25] right? So our revenues were almost spot

[5:28] on to what was predicted last year at

[5:30] this time. Our expenditures were

[5:32] slightly below budget. Again though,

[5:35] when you think about being off by $2

[5:37] million out of 80 million, that's 2.7%.

[5:41] So that's like spending $97.30

[5:45] on a $100 budget. So we were pretty

[5:48] close, right? And of course, we'd be

[5:50] rather have our expenses be below budget

[5:53] than have a year where we're spending

[5:54] more than we intended to. And so, uh,

[5:57] all of that is is really, uh, working in

[5:59] our favors as we look back at 2526.

[6:03] Uh, when we break that down, uh, we had

[6:06] about almost $80 million of revenue. We

[6:09] had about $74 million of expenses, but

[6:12] then we also have to support other

[6:14] district operations from the general

[6:17] fund. So for example, we have to

[6:20] transfer money into the special

[6:22] education fund 27 to cover any expenses

[6:25] that are not reimbursed by the state. We

[6:28] also are supporting um our school

[6:32] nutrition budget through the general

[6:33] fund um supporting uh wages and benefits

[6:38] to ensure that our uh food service

[6:40] workers are being compensated

[6:42] appropriately. And then we also will

[6:44] sometimes transfer money out of the

[6:46] general fund into a savings account for

[6:49] maintenance and for facility work or

[6:52] perhaps to fund debt service to pay the

[6:55] mortgages on the buildings and building

[6:57] projects that have taken place. So uh

[6:59] overall we did see a slight decrease in

[7:02] the fund balance um through this process

[7:04] of this last year but that was

[7:06] anticipated. Actually, we budgeted for a

[7:09] bigger decrease. Um, but we are carrying

[7:12] over funds um that were intended to be

[7:15] spent last year that building principles

[7:17] and department heads are planning to

[7:19] spend in the in the next school year.

[7:21] And we'll talk a little bit more about

[7:22] that moving forward.

[7:25] So we have about uh 230,000 in building

[7:28] carryover, about half a million in

[7:30] department level carryover, and then

[7:32] some money in some other places that we

[7:34] are holding for uh to be spent in this

[7:37] current year that we're already in. That

[7:39] ends up being just shy of $2 million

[7:42] that we're essentially taking from last

[7:44] year's budget and casting forward. We

[7:47] have a great history in Oregon of not

[7:50] forcing people to spend their budgets by

[7:52] what could be seen as a somewhat

[7:54] arbitrary deadline of June 30th. And

[7:57] sometimes if you don't allow that, what

[7:59] happens is everybody scrambles to spend

[8:01] every last dollar that they have

[8:03] budgeted. And what in a system where we

[8:05] allow carryover, we're empowering our

[8:08] building principles and our directors to

[8:10] be uh thoughtful and strategic in

[8:13] carrying small amounts of funds over

[8:16] from year to year to then spend on

[8:18] perhaps something bigger that they

[8:19] couldn't afford out of a regular budget

[8:21] year. And so this process has allowed us

[8:24] to um tackle some of those bigger

[8:27] projects that departments and schools

[8:29] want to do. uh but it does mean that we

[8:31] have to earmark those funds going into

[8:34] going out of one fiscal year and into

[8:36] the next.

[8:39] This slide talks about our cash flow.

[8:42] is really important although

[8:44] we talk about fund balance um a lot of

[8:46] times in these budget presentations.

[8:49] Fund balance doesn't mean a static

[8:52] amount of money in the bank. And that's

[8:55] because money comes in and out of the

[8:57] school district on different schedules.

[8:59] We pay out expenses every two weeks or

[9:02] twice a month on payroll uh when we have

[9:05] check runs after board meetings, but we

[9:08] don't get our income that way. The state

[9:11] likes to sit on our income and they earn

[9:14] interest on it and they only pay us a

[9:17] few times a year. And so we have times

[9:20] as you can see from the variance in

[9:23] these uh graphs that we have times where

[9:26] we sink relatively low and then we have

[9:28] other months where we're sitting

[9:30] relatively high. And that's because the

[9:33] revenue is coming in on a schedule that

[9:35] doesn't really match how we're paying it

[9:37] out. The good thing here in Oregon is

[9:41] that even in the in the months where

[9:44] we're relatively low, we can afford to

[9:47] make payroll and pay our bills without

[9:50] going to the bank and drawing out a line

[9:53] of credit or borrowing. There are a lot

[9:56] of school districts in Wisconsin that

[9:59] actually have to go out and do

[10:00] short-term borrowing. It means they have

[10:02] to spend money on interest just to make

[10:05] their bills. It's not a great practice,

[10:08] right? Because it means that we're

[10:09] borrowing money, paying interest on that

[10:12] money just to pay our monthly bills. We

[10:15] have enough built up in our fund balance

[10:17] that even in in months where our income,

[10:20] our revenue is lower, we can still

[10:22] afford to make all of our scheduled

[10:23] payments and we don't have to incur

[10:26] those uh interest costs.

[10:31] When we talk about school district

[10:33] budgeting, we budget in funds. And so

[10:37] funds 10 and 27 are operating funds.

[10:39] Fund 10 is our general fund. Fund 27

[10:42] funds special education. But we also

[10:44] have a wide variety of other funds. I'm

[10:46] going to do just a quick run over of

[10:48] some of them for 2526.

[10:50] So when we ended the 2526 school year in

[10:53] fund 39, we have obligations to pay off

[10:57] essentially our mortgages. And so this

[10:59] is paying off renovations. It's paying

[11:02] off the construction of Forest Edge. And

[11:04] so we want to make sure that as we're

[11:06] ending one fiscal year, we're going into

[11:08] the next with funds to pay off the

[11:10] mortgage payments that'll be due this

[11:12] fall. And we are sitting in a great

[11:14] place with that. Uh we have uh a cash uh

[11:18] balance in uh fund 49. and that's going

[11:21] to help us defease or defer some of the

[11:25] um payments related to debt and

[11:27] structure it out in this coming year a

[11:30] little more effectively. And so um we

[11:32] have plenty to make sure we can pay our

[11:34] mortgage in fund 39. Then in fund 46,

[11:38] this is a fund that we use to pay um for

[11:42] either planned or sometimes unforeseen

[11:45] building maintenance projects. And

[11:47] having money in fund 46 allows us

[11:49] somewhat of a rainy day fund to ensure

[11:52] that if a boiler goes down or another

[11:54] big ticket item that we have funds

[11:57] available to address that without all of

[11:59] a sudden eliminating building and

[12:02] department budgets, right? Because an

[12:04] unforeseen uh circumstance comes up. So,

[12:07] we have about a million dollars uh in uh

[12:10] fund balance at the end of the year to

[12:12] go towards any sort of miscellaneous

[12:15] project that might come up. As we build

[12:17] this up over the coming years, it could

[12:19] allow us to do some capital maintenance

[12:21] and improvements without going to

[12:23] referendum, which is also beneficial.

[12:28] Fund 49 is the state fund where we

[12:31] account for all of our referendum

[12:32] spending. Um, so fund 39

[12:36] is where we pay off the debt for

[12:39] referendums. Fund 49 is where we

[12:43] actually pay for things using the money

[12:46] we got from a referendum. So, at the end

[12:48] of the last school year, there was

[12:50] $19,000 left from the Forest Edge uh

[12:55] referendum that also went to safety

[12:57] improvements and uh acquisition of land.

[13:01] We're going to actually we already have

[13:04] um liquidated this um in the months

[13:07] since June um and now we'll we'll wipe

[13:10] that out and that way um we don't really

[13:12] want referendum money kind of hanging

[13:14] around for multiple years and so we were

[13:16] down to the last 20,000 and now uh with

[13:20] security and safety upgrades that our

[13:22] building and grounds department did over

[13:23] the summer we've now uh spent this all

[13:26] down.

[13:28] Fund 50 is our food service fund and

[13:31] fund 50 is intended to be uh

[13:34] self-sufficient. So we what we would

[13:36] love is all of the money coming in

[13:38] through the federal school lunch uh

[13:40] program and through families paying for

[13:43] breakfast and lunch that then we we'd

[13:45] break even. Right now our uh fund 50 is

[13:49] not breaking even. And actually that's

[13:52] similar to a lot of other districts in

[13:54] Wisconsin and across the nation right

[13:56] now. Unfortunately, labor prices, food

[13:59] prices, and other costs are going up

[14:02] higher than the federal um school lunch

[14:04] program is reimbursing, and it's causing

[14:07] us to decrease. So, if you look at our

[14:09] fund balance, at the beginning of last

[14:11] school year, we were at 128,000. We're

[14:14] down to 61,000. So, that is something

[14:17] that Mandy Binland and I are talking

[14:20] about and working on to make sure that

[14:22] we're maintaining the level of service,

[14:24] but also um balancing the budget. And

[14:27] board members will remember that we did

[14:29] have to increase uh lunch and breakfast

[14:31] prices um to help address that going

[14:33] into this current school year.

[14:37] And then lastly, fund 80 is our

[14:39] community service fund. Uh fund 80 uh is

[14:42] also doing fine. We ended it with a

[14:45] positive fund balance there. Also,

[14:48] uh funds 73 and 74 are our employee uh

[14:52] postemployment benefit funds. So, when

[14:55] we have employees who retire from the

[14:57] school district and they're owed some

[14:59] sort of retirement benefit, the state

[15:01] wants us to make sure that we're

[15:02] budgeting for that and setting that

[15:04] money aside. And that goes into the fund

[15:07] 70s, 73 and 74. And also uh Andy and

[15:12] Cara have done a great job of setting

[15:13] that up and putting us in a good spot so

[15:15] that we can preund those liabilities and

[15:18] if we have a large number of people

[15:21] suddenly retire in one year, we won't

[15:23] hit a cliff where then we have to make

[15:25] up for that money somewhere else. So

[15:27] they've done a great job of building

[15:28] that balance up in the fund 700s to

[15:31] ensure that we have the money we need

[15:33] when people decide to retire.

[15:36] So if I had to summarize the 25266

[15:39] fiscal year, I'd say that we ended the

[15:41] year in excellent fiscal health. So the

[15:45] revenues exceeded the original budget.

[15:46] The expenditures were below what we

[15:48] originally budgeted. Cash flow was

[15:50] sufficient to avoid short-term

[15:52] borrowing. We can make our fall debt

[15:54] payments. Referendum funds are about

[15:56] used up and our other funds are

[15:59] operating effectively. So, if I had to

[16:02] give a message to the community or to

[16:04] anybody watching on the video,

[16:08] um I would say everybody should feel

[16:10] really good about where we're sitting as

[16:12] a school district looking at 25 26.

[16:17] So, um we do go through a process where

[16:20] we go through an audit and um Nathan,

[16:24] you have uh uh Troy, sorry, that's

[16:27] right, Nathan's not here. Um Troy has um

[16:30] a message from the board of ed just um

[16:32] certifying that we are in the audit

[16:34] process.

[16:35] >> Yep. So I'm speaking on behalf of Nathan

[16:38] tonight. Nathan's our treasurer, but um

[16:41] both Nathan and I and the rest of the

[16:42] board have been involved with reviewing

[16:44] the fiscal audit and I'm just going to

[16:46] read a statement here. The 2025 2026

[16:49] fiscal audit is being completed by the

[16:51] accounting firm of Johnson and Black

[16:53] Company CPA. The fieldwork was completed

[16:56] in August. The board of education will

[16:58] review the audit in December or January

[17:00] once the final audit report has been

[17:02] released. Uh complete copies of the

[17:04] audited financial statements will be

[17:06] available at the district office and on

[17:08] the excuse me and on the district's

[17:11] website at that time. All information

[17:13] required by the DPI DPI was completed in

[17:16] a timely manner.

[17:19] >> Thank you, Troy.

[17:21] We know that that is a concern uh for

[17:24] the community. We want to make sure

[17:25] everyone knows we've seen some school

[17:27] districts not filing their uh reports on

[17:29] time with DPI and not going through a

[17:32] thorough audit process and we just want

[17:33] to assure everybody that we are engaging

[17:35] in those best practices for financial

[17:38] health and uh we're all set to present

[17:40] that audit report with the um accounting

[17:44] firm uh towards the end of the calendar

[17:46] year.

[17:48] So

[17:51] let's dive into school finance.

[17:54] Um, so, uh, people may not realize that

[17:57] Wisconsin school finance is really

[17:59] highly regulated by the state. There's

[18:02] not a lot of choices at the local level

[18:04] about how to finance your schools. And

[18:07] that starts with the state imposed

[18:09] revenue limits. So, school districts

[18:12] aren't the only local municipalities

[18:14] that have revenue limits. Towns, cities,

[18:16] villages, counties also do. And we have

[18:18] to be really uh careful to think about

[18:21] what we're able to spend each year

[18:22] because it's driven by a formula

[18:24] provided by the state. And that

[18:28] essentially is your resident membership

[18:31] which is you can think of as enrollment

[18:34] but is not exactly enrollment because 4K

[18:36] kids count as point6 and early childhood

[18:38] kids count as 0.5 right so not all

[18:41] students count as a full student in that

[18:43] formula but you can kind of think about

[18:45] it as enrollment and then that's

[18:47] multiplied by the revenue limit per

[18:50] pupil which the state tells us what it

[18:52] is. Now, that number is indexed to a

[18:55] number that we used here in Oregon in

[18:57] 1993.

[18:59] In fact, every school district's per

[19:01] pupil revenue limit is indexed to

[19:04] whatever it was in 1993.

[19:07] There's never been a wholesale

[19:09] re-evaluation of everyone's revenue

[19:11] limits. And so, we have a school

[19:13] district in northeastern Wisconsin on a

[19:16] prominent peninsula that raises $25,000

[19:20] per student.

[19:22] And we have a school district, several

[19:24] school districts that were low spending

[19:26] in 1993 and kind of frozen at that low

[19:30] spending number and are at the lowest

[19:32] possible amount you can raise, which is

[19:35] just over $11,000 per student. So, this

[19:38] system has perpetuated a lot of

[19:40] disparities across our state because

[19:43] obviously you can do a lot of different

[19:44] things if you're raising $25,000 per

[19:47] pupil versus $11,000 per pupil.

[19:52] So, um, that has never been equalized

[19:55] across the state. And once you multiply

[19:58] those two things, that gives you what

[20:00] you're totally able to raise, uh, for

[20:02] your school district. And so here we can

[20:06] say our, uh, membership, our headcount

[20:11] converted into full-time numbers is

[20:14] about 3,884.

[20:16] So, that's the number of students that

[20:19] we have when we convert it to full-time

[20:21] equivalency.

[20:22] We multiply that by what we're allowed

[20:25] to uh raise per student, which is just

[20:28] over 16,000. So, we're kind of in the

[20:31] middleish, maybe towards a little bit

[20:34] towards lower.

[20:36] And that does include $325 per student

[20:39] that Governor Ivers put into the last

[20:41] budget. Probably remember that. It's

[20:42] like the 400year veto that may or may

[20:45] not actually last 400 years. And then

[20:48] when we multiply that together, we get

[20:49] about $63 million.

[20:52] So the state is telling us this number.

[20:56] The state then tells us this number. And

[20:58] this is the maximum amount of money that

[21:00] we can raise through state aid and

[21:03] property taxes.

[21:05] Okay.

[21:06] So then we take that revenue limit and

[21:09] we subtract out the equalization aid or

[21:11] the aid that the state gives us. Okay?

[21:16] And we can raise about 63 million. We

[21:21] believe we'll get about 22.2 million in

[21:24] equalization aid. Um that's a little bit

[21:28] more than we did last year, but a little

[21:30] bit less than we thought we were going

[21:31] to get in June. Um, we actually won't

[21:34] know this final number until October

[21:36] 15th, which if you were here for the

[21:38] last budget presentation, I went through

[21:40] a list of a bunch of things that are

[21:42] crazy about school funding that just

[21:44] don't make sense. And one of them is

[21:46] that we're several months into the

[21:49] fiscal year and we still actually don't

[21:51] know the state aid we're going to get.

[21:53] And so we can't figure out how much to

[21:55] charge people in taxes yet because we

[21:58] don't know the numbers, which just

[22:01] doesn't seem right. but it is the way

[22:03] this works. And so, uh, that leaves us

[22:06] about 41 million to collect from our

[22:09] local taxpayers.

[22:11] Okay? So, 63 million comes from our

[22:16] students times what we're allowed to

[22:18] raise per student and then we subtract

[22:21] out what the state gives us and then

[22:23] that leaves what then we distribute and

[22:26] levy out to our taxpayers.

[22:30] So that's not all though because that 41

[22:32] million just funds our general fund and

[22:35] through a transfer to fund 27 it funds

[22:38] our special education.

[22:40] But that's not does not include um what

[22:43] we need to pay the mortgage and it

[22:45] doesn't include what we need to support

[22:48] community ed and other community

[22:50] programs which are located in fund 80.

[22:53] So we have about 7.3 million more that

[22:56] we'll need to levy. So altogether we're

[23:00] looking at about 48.6 million in the tax

[23:04] levy all in

[23:08] that gets prorated out to our

[23:10] municipalities. We have nine 10

[23:13] municipalities 10 um right some

[23:17] municipalities that have very little

[23:19] property value and other municipalities

[23:22] like the village of Oregon and the city

[23:24] of Fitchburg that have a lot of property

[23:25] value. So municipalities absorb the

[23:30] proportion of our tax levy that are

[23:33] represented in their property value.

[23:36] So it's proportional. So the smaller

[23:39] municipalities that don't have a lot of

[23:41] property value get a smaller chunk

[23:43] they're responsible for paying and the

[23:45] bigger municipalities that have lots of

[23:47] property value then um are prorated out

[23:50] more of the tax levy. And that goes for

[23:52] school districts, but it also goes for

[23:54] the county, for the tech college, and

[23:57] for the local

[23:59] uh government like the village, the

[24:01] city, the township.

[24:03] So, people usually want to think about

[24:06] what does this tax levy mean for me on

[24:09] my tax bill? So the way that we uh

[24:12] figure that out is we take the

[24:13] schoolbased tax levy, we divide it by

[24:16] all the property value in the whole

[24:18] school district, multiply it by a

[24:21] th00and because you get a really small

[24:22] decimal. So multiplying by a th00and

[24:24] just makes it easier to understand. And

[24:26] then that's the tax mill rate. Mill

[24:30] sounds like million, but it's really per

[24:32] thousand.

[24:33] And so that gives you an idea about how

[24:35] much money you would be paying to to

[24:37] support the schools on your tax bill.

[24:40] And so we take our 48 million, which is

[24:43] our revenue limit

[24:45] tax levy plus community uh ad plus our

[24:49] mortgage. We got that 48 million. As

[24:53] hard as it is to believe, we have about

[24:55] $5 billion worth of property value in

[24:59] the Oregon school district.

[25:01] So that is then divided out. You

[25:03] multiply it by a thousand, we get a tax

[25:06] rate of 9.25.

[25:08] It's actually going down. Our tax rate

[25:10] for this current fiscal year will be

[25:12] less than it was last year. Okay.

[25:16] So, if you're wondering what you'll be

[25:18] paying on your tax bill to support the

[25:20] Oregon school district, roughly, again,

[25:24] this is a little more complex than I'm

[25:25] making it sound, but roughly you take

[25:28] the value of your house, you multiply it

[25:30] by that mill rate, 9.25 per thousand or

[25:34] 0.00925, 00925.

[25:36] And then the state actually has a

[25:39] separate totally separate way of uh

[25:43] funding schools through rebating it to

[25:46] the taxpayer. And you have a school levy

[25:49] tax credit on your tax bill. And so you

[25:52] really need to think about that coming

[25:54] off of what's on your tax bill for the

[25:56] school because that's the way the

[25:58] legislature has put it together

[26:02] right now. That's, you know, on a

[26:04] $500,000 house about $860.

[26:07] Um, so

[26:10] residents who own about a half a million

[26:12] dollar home are going to pay about

[26:14] $3,700

[26:16] in school taxes. Now again,

[26:20] this isn't as simple as it looks because

[26:23] we have municipalities in our school

[26:25] district that might see rising uh

[26:28] assessment values and we might have other municipalities with

[26:32] lower assessed values. And so it's it

[26:35] doesn't work out exactly this way

[26:37] because remember I said earlier it's

[26:40] prrated

[26:41] by the amount the proportion of that municipality's tax levy. So we

[26:46] actually just don't divide by everybody.

[26:49] We divide by the mun municipality and

[26:51] then we tell the town of Dunn this is

[26:53] how much your taxpayers need to pay and

[26:56] it gets prorated out to theirs and then

[26:58] we say village of Oregon residents this

[27:00] is how much of the tax levy you shoulder

[27:03] and then it gets divided out. So I'm

[27:05] making it seem a little simpler but

[27:08] that's essentially how it works. So you

[27:11] can see a lot of these factors we don't

[27:14] really have a lot of control over. The

[27:16] state tells us what our revenue limit

[27:18] per student is. The state tells us what

[27:20] our state aid is. The state tells us

[27:23] what the equalized values are.

[27:26] Essentially, it's just a lot of formulas

[27:28] that then we're trying to balance a

[27:30] budget on. So I think it's really

[27:33] important for people to understand

[27:35] when people might have concerns about

[27:37] their tax bill. This process is highly

[27:41] regulated and we understand as a school

[27:44] district that the residents and the

[27:47] electors, many of whom are in the

[27:48] audience tonight, are putting a lot of

[27:51] faith in the school district to manage

[27:52] our finances well. And we're doing

[27:55] everything we can, and I hope you saw in

[27:57] the recap from last year to ensure that

[28:00] we're using the money wisely and setting

[28:02] up the district for financial health.

[28:05] So

[28:07] let's look forward or into the present,

[28:10] however you want to go go about it,

[28:12] because we've already started this

[28:13] fiscal year. And so in the budget

[28:16] planning process, we are here. We're at

[28:18] the annual meeting in the budget

[28:20] hearing. So this is the opportunity in

[28:22] the budget process for the community to

[28:24] engage about the budget, but it's not

[28:27] the final act in the budget formation.

[28:30] the school board will come back together

[28:31] in October once we actually know all of

[28:34] those unknown numbers and have to do a

[28:36] formal final vote on what becomes the

[28:40] original budget.

[28:42] So even though it'll be October and we

[28:44] started spending money in this fiscal

[28:46] year on July 1st,

[28:48] we will actually get a final original

[28:51] budget in October. That's just the way

[28:53] this works.

[28:56] So, a couple of things that um I'll note

[28:59] as we get into this current year budget.

[29:02] Uh first of all, we do have that

[29:04] carryover that 1.9 million that

[29:06] principles and department heads are

[29:09] holding um for projects this year. We're

[29:14] moving forward as if all of that will be

[29:16] spent this year. It may or may not, but

[29:19] we don't want to have a situation where

[29:21] every principal and department head

[29:23] decides that it's the right time to

[29:25] spend all that money and we didn't have

[29:27] it budgeted. So, we've got that 1.9

[29:30] million worked into the expenses.

[29:33] Another thing to know is that the

[29:35] state's promise in the last bianial

[29:37] budget of how the state would be

[29:39] reimbursing special education costs has

[29:42] not come to fruition. So last year it

[29:46] was supposed to be a reimbursement rate

[29:48] of 42%. So the state was going to pay us

[29:52] uh back for 42 cents on every dollar

[29:54] spent for special education fund uh

[29:57] costs. That turned out to be closer to

[29:59] 38 or 39%.

[30:02] This current school year we're already

[30:04] in, it was supposed to rise to 45% and

[30:06] the state was supposed to pick up 45

[30:08] cents out of every dollar we're spending

[30:11] on students uh servicing students with

[30:13] disabilities.

[30:15] We're not betting that's going to

[30:16] happen. And so in our budget, we're

[30:19] being super conservative by basically

[30:21] holding it steady at 39%

[30:24] even though the state had originally

[30:26] said that that reimbursement rate would

[30:28] be closer to 45. If it does come in that

[30:31] way, great, right? But we don't want to

[30:34] be in a position where we get less

[30:35] revenue than we intended.

[30:38] And then the last one, um something to

[30:40] note in our assumptions here is that

[30:43] when the state does release in the next

[30:45] few weeks the equalized values, um we're

[30:47] assuming that uh property values will

[30:50] increase 5.46%. That's the estimate

[30:53] that's out there right now. Um that is

[30:55] the lowest in 10 years. Uh it's also um

[30:59] lower than the state average, but it is

[31:02] coming after really unprecedented

[31:04] property value growth in Dayne County.

[31:06] And so there are quite a few years where

[31:09] property growth in Oregon was double

[31:11] digits. And so I I think it's maybe okay

[31:14] if we level out a little bit um and stop

[31:17] the double digit increases. Um that just

[31:19] creates a lot of uncertainty for people.

[31:21] So that's what's built into the

[31:23] assumptions for the 2627 budget. So,

[31:28] we're expecting when we look at our

[31:30] operating funds, again, that's general

[31:32] fund and fund 27. So, that's our general

[31:35] fund and special education fund. Um,

[31:37] we're um budgeting for a 1.8% increase

[31:42] in revenue, which is lower than

[31:45] inflation, right? Because inflation is

[31:47] about 2.63%.

[31:49] So, we're holding our revenues down

[31:51] below inflation.

[31:54] You can see um where the revenue really

[31:57] comes from. You can see most of it comes

[31:59] from the fund levy, which is the tax

[32:01] levy and equalized aid.

[32:04] There's been a lot of discussion about

[32:06] federal funding of schools. You can see

[32:09] way down there what proportion of our

[32:12] budget federal funding really makes up.

[32:16] Of course, any loss of funding means we

[32:18] have to take dollars from somewhere else

[32:20] to make up for it. But you can see the

[32:22] federal government is not um

[32:25] substantially supporting our school

[32:26] district operations.

[32:30] When we look think about our revenues,

[32:32] about 80% comes from those two places,

[32:35] either our tax levy or our state aid. Um

[32:38] we're estimating we'll hold about steady

[32:41] in uh enrollment. We are in the middle

[32:44] of our third Friday count and kind of

[32:45] certifying that. So, in the in the next

[32:47] couple weeks, by the time the board

[32:49] votes on the actual budget, um we will

[32:52] have a much better idea of where exactly

[32:54] we will sit. And then, um you can see

[32:57] some of the other assumptions that we've

[32:59] made in the budget here. um we will see

[33:02] that slight increase in state aid, but

[33:05] because the state didn't put any more

[33:06] dollars into the state aid bucket, it

[33:09] unfortunately means that our increase is

[33:11] someone else's decrease, which doesn't

[33:14] feel great, but I'd rather that than

[33:16] have us see a decrease in uh general aid

[33:19] from the state because that means we'd

[33:21] be putting more on our local taxpayers.

[33:24] There are also no increases to the per

[33:26] pupil categorical aid. And something to

[33:28] note is that the state did increase the

[33:30] funding for open enrollment. And since

[33:32] we're a net open enrollment in district,

[33:35] that will uh positively impact us. So

[33:38] we'll see a little bit of additional

[33:40] revenue um in what we're getting paid

[33:42] from other school districts who are

[33:44] sending whose parents are sending their

[33:46] kids to Oregon.

[33:49] This slide we've talked about at board

[33:51] meetings before represents the costs

[33:53] associated with the Wisconsin parental

[33:55] choice program and the special needs

[33:57] scholarship program in independent

[33:59] charter schools.

[34:01] The dollar amounts here are not the real

[34:05] story that I'm sharing this for tonight.

[34:07] Although obviously spending about

[34:09] $600,000

[34:11] um does have an impact to our local

[34:12] property taxpayers because our property

[34:15] taxpayers are bearing that $600,000.

[34:19] It's to me the story is more in the

[34:22] increase. You see how fast that's

[34:24] increasing?

[34:26] We're going just five years ago to less

[34:30] than a mill uh $100,000

[34:32] to now almost $600,000.

[34:37] So that's easily

[34:40] what word did I use the other day?

[34:41] Octupine.

[34:43] Um so it's it's about eight times bigger

[34:46] than it was five or six years ago. And

[34:50] um no other expense associated with our

[34:53] school district has been able to

[34:55] increase 800%.

[34:57] Right? Teacher salaries have not

[34:59] increased 800%.

[35:01] What we're paying our bus drivers has

[35:03] not increased 800%.

[35:06] Even what we're paying for food in

[35:08] school nutrition or for um supplies,

[35:12] none of that's increasing 800%. So, it's

[35:17] perplexing

[35:19] that this budget item or this item would

[35:21] be able to grow so rapidly without a lot

[35:24] of checks when, as I shared earlier, so

[35:27] many of what we of what we spend here in

[35:30] the school district has multiple checks

[35:32] on it to keep it from growing too

[35:34] rapidly. And yet, these programs have

[35:37] grown very rapidly. So, it's just

[35:40] something that's really good for our

[35:41] local uh community to be aware of.

[35:45] Uh this slide shows that breakdown

[35:48] between what we're getting in support

[35:50] from the state and what our local

[35:52] property taxpayers are bearing. So you

[35:54] can see we're actually almost a 2/3

[35:57] one-third school district. The state is

[36:00] actually only supporting the school

[36:02] district at about just over a third of

[36:04] the costs and our property taxpayers are

[36:07] bearing about twothirds of the cost. You

[36:09] can see that wasn't always the case. So

[36:12] back in 201617 we were about 5050

[36:16] but a lot of things have happened. One

[36:18] of them has been the property growth and

[36:20] the value growth in Oregon. Um the

[36:25] 201920 school year is highlighted

[36:27] because that's the year that we became

[36:28] negative tertiary. Which means that in

[36:31] that third uh tier of state funding, the

[36:35] state says we're spending more um than

[36:39] we would given our property wealth. And

[36:42] so for every dollar we spend more, the

[36:44] state actually penalizes us. And so they

[36:48] take away aid based on us spending more.

[36:52] And so that then starts flipping it. You

[36:55] can see pretty much since 1920, our

[36:58] percentages have gone down just about

[37:01] every year.

[37:03] So that's something that's important

[37:04] that uh Cara and I will keep an eye on

[37:07] and manage is that as we increase

[37:09] spending, our state aid actually has the

[37:11] potential to go down. Um and so we want

[37:14] to keep that uh in mind as we look at

[37:17] balancing the budget from uh how many

[37:19] students do we have enrolled and how

[37:21] much are we spending on each one.

[37:25] Uh when we look at the expenditure side

[37:27] we are budgeting for what looks like a

[37:30] 4.2% increase but remember that includes

[37:34] almost $2 million in carryover funds. If

[37:37] we factor that out we're actually only

[37:39] increasing our expenses at about 1.7%.

[37:42] Remember the revenues were up 1.8%.

[37:45] So we're about even. So um we have a

[37:50] couple different ways we can look at

[37:52] expenses in the budget. One of them is

[37:55] by looking at the six-digit code that

[37:58] goes with all of our spending. It's the

[38:00] function code. It tells why are we

[38:02] spending the money. And as you can see,

[38:05] most of what we spend is on instruction,

[38:07] which makes sense. Um and then the next

[38:11] investment would be maintenance and

[38:13] operations. Right? We have a huge

[38:15] responsibility as a school district to

[38:17] protect and steward this resources that

[38:19] have been given to us including this

[38:21] room and this facility that we're in. So

[38:24] that does take um take quite a bit of

[38:27] funds to sustain. And then you can see

[38:29] as we as we look through the rest they

[38:31] get smaller and smaller but by and large

[38:33] we're spending most of our money on

[38:35] classroom instruction which makes sense.

[38:37] We can also look at expenses based on

[38:39] the three-digit object code or the what

[38:42] are we spending money on? And salaries,

[38:46] as you can imagine, we're a people

[38:47] organization, make up most of that. And

[38:50] so salaries and benefits are clearly the

[38:53] top two. That's going to represent a

[38:55] huge portion of our budget. Services

[38:58] would be the the 300s. It's like

[39:00] professional services and contracts that

[39:02] we have with outside entities. Um that

[39:05] would include for example like our bus

[39:07] companies are is a professional service

[39:10] that we contract for and so that would

[39:13] that's why that one would be next. Um so

[39:16] you can see salaries and benefits again

[39:18] we're putting almost all of our funds

[39:21] available towards the things that matter

[39:23] most and changing the outcomes for kids.

[39:28] When we reconcile all of this, we have

[39:30] about $80 million in operational

[39:32] revenue, about 78 million in

[39:35] expenditures, but then some transfers to

[39:37] other funds. If you look at it on paper,

[39:40] it's going to look like we're running a

[39:41] deficit budget. And it's really

[39:44] important for the community and the

[39:45] board to understand that that deficit,

[39:48] that 1.9 million is because we saved

[39:51] money this year, put it into fund

[39:54] balance and then are carrying it over

[39:56] into the expenses for this current

[39:58] school year. So it will look like a

[40:00] deficit, but if you factor that out,

[40:03] we're balanced. So on the operational

[40:05] revenue and the operational expenses,

[40:08] we'll we balanced budget. We're just

[40:11] counting on principles and department

[40:13] heads spending that carry over.

[40:19] Uh the next couple slides just go

[40:21] through the rest of those funds. So we

[40:23] have again fund 39. We have our debt

[40:25] payment structure. We are uh levying and making about $6 million in uh

[40:32] principal and interest payments a year.

[40:34] That's all sketched out. It's budgeted

[40:36] for in funds 46 and 49. Again, uh this

[40:41] is capital improvements. And so fund 46,

[40:43] we're growing a fund balance there. Um

[40:46] for fund 49, we're going to wipe that

[40:49] out. We're going to spend the rest of

[40:50] the referendum money.

[40:52] In fund 50, um we're looking to hold

[40:55] that fund balance steady. So, we're

[40:57] hoping that this year we can get the

[40:58] revenues and the expenses to about even

[41:01] out. And we'll be working to do that

[41:03] over the coming uh school year.

[41:06] And we have a solid budget plan for

[41:08] those post-employment benefits,

[41:10] retirement benefits for our employees

[41:12] and fund 73 and 74.

[41:16] Finally, in fund 80, this is where we

[41:18] fund our community pool, community ed,

[41:21] the performing arts center, and uh this

[41:24] is also where the splash pad will be

[41:25] funded from. So, as we know, the the

[41:28] board approved the use of the funds,

[41:31] donated funds, and some fund 80 funds to

[41:33] go towards the construction of the

[41:35] splash pad, and that will all be run

[41:37] through the fund 80.

[41:40] So, again, we have our fund 10 levy, our

[41:43] rev our levy for um paying the mortgage,

[41:47] our levy for community services. We get

[41:49] that 48 million. Uh we get that 9.25.

[41:54] can't see my cursor on the screen. Uh

[41:56] mill rate and about $5 billion in

[42:00] equalized value.

[42:02] That's where we're sitting for this

[42:04] fall. We'll have more um solid figures

[42:08] when the board reviews this again in

[42:09] October, but we're looking for elector

[42:12] support tonight as a part of the annual

[42:13] meeting for this budget as presented.

[42:17] This shows every single fund we have,

[42:20] the beginning balance, what we're

[42:22] projecting for revenue, expenditures,

[42:24] any transfers, and then the ending fund

[42:26] balance at the end of June 2027, which

[42:31] is where we're thinking already with

[42:32] this this budget.

[42:35] So again, we're sitting in a great uh

[42:38] space, very healthy space. Um our

[42:40] operating funds are balanced and

[42:42] carryover funds are budgeted. We're

[42:44] looking at being funded at about 35%

[42:47] from the state and about 65% from our

[42:50] local taxpayers and we're looking at a

[42:52] tax rate decrease for this current

[42:54] school year, which I think is great

[42:56] news. So, all said, um I believe that

[43:00] this shows that we're making good use of

[43:02] our funds and I hope that um people who

[43:05] are watching consider um the work that's

[43:08] gone into this both by my predecessor

[43:10] Andy Wland, Cara Newton, our finance

[43:13] director, to set the district up into a great space. And um we look forward to

[43:17] bringing final numbers to the board in

[43:19] October um and uh go from there with the

[43:22] issuing of tax bills later this uh fall.

[43:26] So,

[43:28] we'll be happy I'll be happy to answer

[43:30] questions people here may have. And uh

[43:33] for the people watching at home, you can

[43:34] always reach out to the district office

[43:36] if you have any questions about our

[43:37] school finances. Thank you.

[43:40] >> Thank you, Dr. Reichov. So, at this

[43:42] point, we'll take any questions or

[43:43] comments from district electors on our

[43:47] budget hearing.

[43:57] All right, well done. Um, and just to

[44:00] note, there is no motion to approve the

[44:02] budget tonight. That uh this is still a

[44:04] preliminary budget. The the the board

[44:07] will actually approve this final budget

[44:09] at the second meeting in in October.

[44:11] That needs to be completed before

[44:12] November 1. So, um, a little bit more

[44:16] work for the board to do on this budget

[44:17] that it seems like we have been working

[44:19] on for, well, we have been working on it

[44:22] for about nine months, I think. So, all

[44:24] right. Thank you, Nick.

[44:27] Okay. So, next up,

[44:30] we are going to move into our annual

[44:32] meeting. So,

[44:34] uh, I will call our annual meeting to

[44:36] order.

[44:38] And um Miss Katie Heights has shared

[44:41] with me the proof of notice to to um

[44:45] approve that this meeting has been

[44:46] appropriately noticed with our

[44:48] community.

[44:51] So this is um

[44:55] so our annual meeting. So just I want to

[44:57] note on our voting procedures because we

[44:59] are going to go through some um some votes here. So only qualified

[45:05] electors who reside in the Oregon school

[45:07] district may vote at the annual meeting

[45:09] and that is uh every US citizen age 18

[45:12] or older who has resided in the district

[45:15] or ward for uh 28 consecutive days

[45:18] before the election um where where you would be able to vote here. So

[45:24] note that uh our first our first action

[45:26] item is to elect a chairperson of the

[45:28] meeting. So it's now time to um to make

[45:31] that election. And it's important to

[45:33] note that the chairperson is not to take

[45:35] part in any discussion unless they take

[45:37] leave from the chair to do so. So may I

[45:40] have a motion to nominate someone for

[45:42] chair?

[46:03] All right, we have one motion on the

[46:04] table. Are there any other motions to

[46:06] nominate someone for chair?

[46:10] Are there any other motions to nominate

[46:12] someone for chair?

[46:14] I'll ask that a third time. Any other

[46:16] motions to nominate someone for chair?

[46:19] All right. The nominations are not are

[46:22] now closed. Uh so I will ask all those

[46:25] in favor say yes.

[46:28] >> Yes.

[46:28] >> All those opposed say no. Any

[46:31] abstensions?

[46:32] All right. Motion carries. I will serve

[46:35] as the chair.

[46:38] Um

[46:39] next up is our appointment of the par

[46:41] parliamentarian. So, I will appoint uh

[46:44] Miss Gina Joon, our in-house council, to

[46:47] serve as the parliamentarian for this

[46:49] meeting. Thank you, Gina.

[46:51] Next up is the adoption of ground rules.

[46:55] So,

[47:00] you have those ground rules in green.

[47:03] The board is proposing these ground

[47:05] rules for tonight's meeting

[47:08] and I would entertain a motion to adopt

[47:10] those ground rules.

[47:27] Second by Dr. Tanner. All right, we'll

[47:32] take a voice vote. All those in favor of

[47:35] adopting the ground rules say yes.

[47:38] >> Yes.

[47:39] >> Anyone opposed? Say no. Any abstensions?

[47:43] All right, motion carries. We have

[47:44] ground rules. Uh next up, we have

[47:46] minutes of the last annual meeting.

[47:48] Those minutes are in orange and uh were

[47:51] in the packet if you'd like to review

[47:53] them. Uh we will not be approving those

[47:55] meeting minutes tonight as we have

[47:57] different people in attendance in this

[47:59] room today than we did last year. So

[48:01] those are there for information

[48:03] and then we will move to our

[48:07] superintendent state of the district and

[48:09] I welcome Dr. Shannon Anderson up to the

[48:11] podium to give this report.

[48:19] Thank you.

[48:22] >> All right. Good evening everyone. I'm

[48:24] very excited to be with you here tonight

[48:26] to provide you with a high-level

[48:28] overview of who we are as a district and

[48:31] what we believe.

[48:33] Before I do that though, I want to give

[48:36] a word of gratitude. You met our school

[48:38] board members earlier tonight. Uh they

[48:41] are very focused on our mission and our

[48:44] vision. Their leadership is student

[48:46] centered and they are fully committed to

[48:49] doing everything they can to support our

[48:51] staff, to support our kids in our

[48:53] community. So grateful for their

[48:55] leadership.

[48:59] So our district all begins with our why,

[49:02] which is our mission for being here, and

[49:04] that is to help our students acquire the

[49:07] skills, knowledge, and attitudes to

[49:09] achieve their individual potential. You

[49:12] see here a picture of some of our

[49:14] graduates in June. We're going to be

[49:16] coming back to our portrait of a

[49:18] graduate in a minute, but this is always

[49:20] a a very important culminating event for

[49:22] our students.

[49:24] Our mission is led out through our

[49:27] values. Our district has five values. In

[49:30] the summer of 2015, over a 100 community

[49:33] members came together at Rome Corner's

[49:36] cafeteria. Uh we had students, we had

[49:39] staff, we had community members,

[49:41] politicians, local business owners,

[49:42] local leaders. They all came together

[49:44] for two days. Um and we really dove into

[49:48] who are we? What do we believe as a

[49:50] community? And some of the pictures up

[49:53] here today capture that. We believe

[49:56] strongly in our educators because they

[49:59] care about our students and we want them

[50:02] to have meaningful work in our district.

[50:04] The center of the apple is the whole

[50:06] child. And in our district, we believe

[50:08] in the whole child, their mental health,

[50:11] their wellness. Um, we also believe in

[50:14] relevant and empowering learning

[50:16] experiences, that learning is engaging

[50:19] and exciting for our kids. We believe in

[50:22] strong family and community

[50:24] partnerships. We're going to be talking

[50:25] a little bit more about some examples of

[50:27] that in a minute. And we also believe in

[50:29] educational equity that every child gets

[50:32] what they need to be successful in our

[50:34] district. And these values will weave

[50:36] into everything that we do.

[50:41] One of the things I love about the

[50:42] Oregon School District is how we've

[50:44] intentionally included the voices of our

[50:46] community to help guide what we do. So

[50:49] again, in 2021, we came together again.

[50:52] Uh we were in the cafeteria here at the

[50:55] high school. Again, we brought in all

[50:57] kinds of people, invited multiple people

[50:59] to come in to give perspective on what

[51:02] do we want our graduates to know and be

[51:04] able to do. And we came up with four

[51:07] themes. And again, I want to provide you

[51:09] with a really highlevel view of what

[51:12] we're talking about.

[51:15] The first is competency. Now, a lot of

[51:18] times when people might think of

[51:19] portrait of a graduate, you're thinking

[51:20] about that picture I just showed you of

[51:22] the people in cap and gowns. But this

[51:24] example, this is a kindergarten

[51:26] classroom because the journey begins

[51:27] with our youngest learners. We have

[51:30] board policy 4101 that talks about the

[51:33] standards and academic uh beliefs of

[51:36] what we want every graduate to know and

[51:38] be able to do.

[51:40] And we are rooted in our work. Every

[51:44] school has a school leadership team that

[51:46] work on 100 day cycles and goals to

[51:49] achieve our district and building goals

[51:52] with intentionality.

[51:54] We've also implemented professional

[51:55] learning communities that are very

[51:57] focused on looking at student data and

[52:00] information. I was in a PLC this morning

[52:03] uh at one of our schools and they were

[52:04] looking at student results from the fall

[52:07] that they've already taken and they're

[52:09] making plans on how are we going to make

[52:10] sure every child becomes competent in

[52:13] this area through our collaborative

[52:15] work. So it's through great

[52:16] intentionality to make sure that all

[52:19] students leave here with the academic

[52:21] skills to be successful for whatever is

[52:23] next for them on their journey.

[52:27] Another area that we identified is

[52:30] character and culture. How do we want

[52:32] students to act with integrity? How do

[52:35] they get along with each other? How do

[52:37] they make the right decisions? This

[52:40] example is from a class at our high

[52:42] school called unified physical

[52:44] education. And it provides an

[52:46] opportunity for students to serve as

[52:48] mentors for other students in physical

[52:51] education. And it's a great leadership

[52:54] opportunity for our students to learn

[52:56] with and from each other.

[53:02] Critical and creative thinking. We want

[53:04] our students to be critical learners to

[53:08] take the time to think deeply to engage

[53:11] in the design process. This example from

[53:14] last year is from our robotics team at

[53:17] the high school. a new group that they

[53:19] formed, found an advisor, won and went

[53:23] to the world championships. And I think

[53:25] this is a really impressive example of

[53:27] how our kids are able uh to lead their

[53:31] own learning in really creative and

[53:33] unique ways.

[53:36] And lastly, community. Um you might

[53:39] remember this is also one of our values

[53:41] that community partnerships. Um, this is

[53:44] an example from our eighth graders who

[53:47] do a partnership uh with our local

[53:50] Rotary at a park here in town called

[53:52] Learner Park. They have been doing this

[53:54] for decades. Uh, students remove

[53:56] invasive species. They plant native

[53:59] prairie plants that they grow in the

[54:01] middle school greenhouse and they also

[54:04] develop trails for the community to use.

[54:07] But this learning experience would not

[54:09] be possible without the partnership of

[54:11] our local Rotary. Our eighth graders

[54:14] also do a community leaf raking. So, if

[54:16] you need your leaves your leaf your lawn

[54:18] ra um near the middle school, let us

[54:20] know. We can help you out. Um and even

[54:22] last week for homecoming, our high

[54:24] schoolers coordinated a food drive that

[54:27] gathered over 1,500 pounds of food for

[54:30] the Oregon area food pantry. So, our

[54:33] students are finding opportunities to

[54:35] serve the community

[54:38] and our community is collaborating with

[54:41] our kids for really powerful

[54:42] experiences. I had to throw in some

[54:44] pictures from homecoming. Uh we just

[54:47] wrapped that up last week and I think

[54:50] this event is a really great example of

[54:52] how we partner and comm you know

[54:54] collaborate with our community. Our

[54:56] community showed up. We had a record

[54:58] number of float entries in our parade.

[55:02] We had over 2100 people come to the

[55:06] game. It was packed. Um, and as you can

[55:10] see, our elementary students were in the

[55:12] parade. We had community members in the

[55:13] parade. Uh, and a lot of our staff too

[55:16] contribute to make this a really

[55:18] important event. And one example up here

[55:20] is Ron Dinska, who's retiring in

[55:22] December, who is our buildings and

[55:24] grounds. And he takes such pride in

[55:26] having a beautiful field for our

[55:28] athletes. um that really shows that they

[55:31] matter and so our kids are such a strong

[55:34] part of our community

[55:36] and our community shows up for us. Could

[55:39] not be in a better place.

[55:42] So hopefully you saw in this very quick

[55:46] highlevel tour our vision, what we are

[55:49] with our values, what we want to see in

[55:52] all of our graduates. And we are really

[55:54] excited um in the next coming months,

[55:57] beginning at our next meeting, you will

[55:59] start to hear kind of a deeper dive.

[56:01] Each of our schools and departments will

[56:03] be doing a presentation so you can get a

[56:05] sense of well, what does this look like

[56:07] at Prairie View or what does this look

[56:09] like more at the middle school? But I

[56:11] think you will see a very strong

[56:12] alignment with both our values, our

[56:15] mission, as well as our portrait of a

[56:17] graduate. Thank you.

[56:22] » Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Well done.

[56:25] Uh, all right. We're going to move on.

[56:26] So, we have old business and none no

[56:29] items under old business. Moving taking

[56:31] us to new business. So, we have a

[56:33] resolution A, which is the adoption of a tax levy. Uh, so may I have a

[56:40] motion? That would be item number 8A in

[56:43] the sample resolutions.

[56:48] Thanks for doing the slides for me, Dr.

[56:51] Anderson.

[56:54] Uh, I believe so. Yep.

[57:02] So again, any elector that is a resident

[57:04] of the school district may make a

[57:06] motion. And you have sample motions in

[57:08] purple in front of you.

[57:37] All right. Thank you, Mr. Det. We have a

[57:40] motion on the table. Is there a second?

[57:45] by Heidi Walter. Any discussion?

[57:49] All right. All those in favor, please

[57:52] say yes. Yes. Uh any opposition, please

[57:57] say no. Any abstensions.

[58:00] All right. Motion carries.

[58:03] Uh next up, we have resolution B, which

[58:06] is the adoption of school board salaries

[58:08] for the school year of 2026 2027.

[58:13] And that motion is in on on in the

[58:16] purple and also on the screen. Um just

[58:20] an advisement that uh board members are

[58:24] recommended to abstain from this as a

[58:26] conflict of interest.

[58:29] >> Is there a motion to approve school board salaries?

[58:58] Good. I'm getting a head nod by our

[59:00] parliamentarian. That is a proper

[59:03] motion. Thank you, Miss Irman.

[59:05] Uh, and then looking for a second to

[59:08] that motion.

[59:15] Thank you. Any discussion?

[59:19] All those in favor say yes.

[59:23] Uh anyone opposed say no.

[59:26] And any abstensions, please say abstain.

[59:30] I abstain. And noting that all of our

[59:32] board members are abstaining from that

[59:33] vote. Uh motion carries.

[59:37] Next up, we have resolution C, which is

[59:39] the reimbursement of board members

[59:40] expenses for school business.

[59:44] And

[59:46] that motion is

[59:50] Dr. Anderson, can you flip the screen?

[59:55] Oh, not there. Okay, that's fine. That's

[59:57] in your It's on the purple. Uh 8 C.

[1:00:01] Looking for a motion.

[1:00:15] All right. Thank you, Mr. Ashmore, for

[1:00:17] that motion. Is there a second?

[1:00:22] Miss Anglehart with the second. Any

[1:00:24] discussion?

[1:00:26] All those in favor say yes.

[1:00:28] Any opposed say no.

[1:00:31] and abstensions. I abstain. Uh all board

[1:00:35] members are abstaining. Motion carries.

[1:00:38] Thank you for that. And now we're on to

[1:00:42] resolution D, which is setting the date

[1:00:43] and hour for the 2027 annual meeting. We

[1:00:46] recommend uh historical practices that

[1:00:49] we do this meeting on the 4th Monday in

[1:00:50] September. So that will be September

[1:00:54] 27th, 2027 at 6:30 p.m. May I have a

[1:00:58] motion?

[1:01:08] Thank you, Miss Goldz. Is there a

[1:01:10] second? Oh,

[1:01:19] » all right.

[1:01:23] Uh, is there a second?

[1:01:28] Mr. Zur Wick with the second. Katie can

[1:01:31] get your address. Uh, any discussion.

[1:01:36] All those in favor say yes. Yes. Any

[1:01:40] opposed say no. Any abstensions?

[1:01:44] Motion carries. All right, that takes us

[1:01:47] to the end of our annual meeting

[1:01:50] and there is no other new business

[1:01:53] tonight.

[1:01:55] So with that, uh, we can go to

[1:01:57] adjournment. I'll take a motion to

[1:01:58] adjurnn.

[1:02:02] A motion by Dr. Tanner. Is there a

[1:02:03] second?

[1:02:05] by Miss Irman. All those in favor

[1:02:08] say yes. Yes. Any nos? Motion carries.

[1:02:13] We're now adjourned. Uh all right. Well,

[1:02:15] thank you all for attending. Great

[1:02:16] turnout tonight. Um the board is now

[1:02:18] going to move to our regular meeting. Uh

[1:02:20] we have a brief meeting scheduled for

[1:02:22] tonight uh which really is uh approving

[1:02:25] our consent calendar and we will have

[1:02:28] time for public comment and then we will

[1:02:31] be moving into a closed session. But

[1:02:33] we'll take um just a couple of minute um

[1:02:36] recess while the board sets up over here

[1:02:38] and you're all welcome to stay for this

[1:02:40] brief meeting.

[1:05:27] All right. Good evening everyone. I'm

[1:05:28] calling this meeting to order. This is

[1:05:30] the uh regular school board meeting

[1:05:32] September 28th, 2026. We're here in the

[1:05:35] Oregon High School Innovation Center.

[1:05:38] Um,

[1:05:40] and we uh just wrapped up our annual

[1:05:43] meeting and now we have a uh regular

[1:05:46] school board meeting tonight. So, uh

[1:05:48] call this meeting to order. Katie has

[1:05:50] provided me with the proof of notice.

[1:05:53] So, that uh proves that our meeting has

[1:05:55] been properly noticed. Uh Katie, could

[1:05:57] you please call the role?

[1:05:59] >> Dr. Bush,

[1:06:00] >> yes.

[1:06:01] >> Miss Garrison,

[1:06:02] >> yes.

[1:06:02] >> Mr. Hunel, Mr. Lebet,

[1:06:04] >> yes.

[1:06:04] >> Dr. Lakuda, yes.

[1:06:06] >> Miss Wright, Mr. Pinkets.

[1:06:08] >> Yes. Uh we have a quorum of six people

[1:06:11] tonight and um Mr. Hensel did let me

[1:06:14] know that he was out of town and unable

[1:06:15] to attend. Um so tonight's agenda, a

[1:06:19] very brief meeting. We have a consent

[1:06:21] calendar to consider. Uh we will have

[1:06:24] public comment and then we will

[1:06:26] entertain um a motion to go into close

[1:06:29] session. I'm going to read um read that

[1:06:31] statute. So consideration of adjourning

[1:06:33] to close session on item G1 as provided

[1:06:35] under Wisconsin statutes 19.851E

[1:06:39] and on item G2 as provided under

[1:06:43] Wisconsin statutes 19.851E

[1:06:45] and 19.851G.

[1:06:48] Um I'm going to correct myself. That's

[1:06:49] C2. Uh and that purpose is for

[1:06:52] discussions regarding negotiating the

[1:06:54] SRO agreement for the 2026 2027 school

[1:06:57] year pursuant to Wisconsin statutes

[1:06:59] 19.851E. 851E.

[1:07:01] And item number C2 is to discussion

[1:07:05] regarding negotiating the 2026 2027

[1:07:07] collective bargaining agreement with the

[1:07:09] Oregon Education Association pursuant to

[1:07:12] Wisconsin statutes 19.851E

[1:07:15] and conferring with legal counsel about

[1:07:17] the negotiations pursuant to 19.851G.

[1:07:21] And I do not expect the board will

[1:07:23] reconvene in open session tonight. We

[1:07:25] will adjourn out of closed. So, uh, with

[1:07:29] that, I would consider a motion to

[1:07:30] approve the agenda as posted.

[1:07:33] >> Motion by Miss Garrison. Is there a

[1:07:35] second?

[1:07:36] >> A second.

[1:07:37] >> Second by Dr. Lakuda. Any discussion?

[1:07:40] Uh, Katie, please call the role for the

[1:07:42] agenda.

[1:07:43] >> Miss Garrison,

[1:07:44] >> yes.

[1:07:44] >> Dr. Lakuda,

[1:07:45] >> yes.

[1:07:45] >> Dr. Bush,

[1:07:46] >> yes.

[1:07:47] >> Mr. Lad Better.

[1:07:48] >> Yes.

[1:07:48] >> Miss Wright,

[1:07:49] >> yes.

[1:07:49] >> Mr. Pinkrretz,

[1:07:50] >> yes. Motion carries 6. We have an

[1:07:52] agenda. All right. Uh, first item of

[1:07:54] business is our consent calendar. a

[1:07:56] typical consent calendar. I will draw

[1:07:58] your attention to a field trip request

[1:08:00] that's for a national FFA convention for

[1:08:02] a trip to Indianapolis.

[1:08:05] And uh let's get a motion on the table

[1:08:08] for the consent calendar.

[1:08:12] Motion by Dr. Bush. Is there a second?

[1:08:14] >> Second.

[1:08:15] by Mr. Leb better. Uh any

[1:08:18] discussion from the board?

[1:08:20] I will take an opport this opportunity

[1:08:22] to recognize our generous community

[1:08:24] donations. We have six families who've

[1:08:27] donated a total of $80 for the Shusters

[1:08:30] Farm field trip. We have a donation by

[1:08:34] Nancy Johnson and Deb Moyer and the BFF

[1:08:38] book club. That's a $320 donation to

[1:08:40] Chris Beern's kindergarten class for

[1:08:42] books for each student in the classroom.

[1:08:46] Uh, Oregon Youth Youth Basketball has

[1:08:48] donated shirts for um, homecoming week

[1:08:52] for those students who were looking for

[1:08:54] attire. Uh, we have a donation from

[1:08:57] Corey Burmeister of a of a Trump

[1:08:59] trombone for the MS band. Uh, Cara

[1:09:03] Schwarz has donated football gear and

[1:09:06] soccer shoes. The Oregon PTO has donated

[1:09:09] $1,700 to PVE for building needs. Uh P

[1:09:13] the Oregon PTO has also donated $3,900

[1:09:16] to PBE for teacher needs. We have Brian

[1:09:20] and Angelica an Angel Angelica Vetc $500

[1:09:24] for Parker Debru's classroom and also

[1:09:28] $500 to Adrien Cox's classroom.

[1:09:32] Uh Holy of Holy Mother of Consolation

[1:09:34] Church in Oregon has donated $80 for

[1:09:37] school supplies. Margaret Broadda uh has

[1:09:40] donated um $300 value to the band

[1:09:43] program. We have a donation by Culver's

[1:09:46] of $582 for girls soccer

[1:09:50] for the girls soccer share night

[1:09:51] proceeds. Uh Wisconsin First Robotics uh

[1:09:55] $3,000

[1:09:57] robotics club donation. And then we have

[1:09:59] Craig and Amy Thompson who have donated

[1:10:02] a dollhouse and Mega Bloks to Netherwood

[1:10:05] Null. So, as always, we greatly

[1:10:07] appreciate those generous donations by

[1:10:09] our community members. And Katie, could

[1:10:12] you please call the role for the consent

[1:10:14] calendar?

[1:10:15] >> Dr. Bush,

[1:10:16] >> yes.

[1:10:17] >> Mr. Le Better,

[1:10:18] >> yes.

[1:10:18] >> Miss Garrison,

[1:10:19] >> yes.

[1:10:20] >> Dr. Lakuda,

[1:10:20] >> yes.

[1:10:21] >> Miss Wright,

[1:10:22] >> yes.

[1:10:22] >> Mr. Pinkets,

[1:10:23] >> yes. Motion carries 6. We have an

[1:10:25] approved consent calendar. Next up, we

[1:10:28] have public comment. We have one person

[1:10:30] registered and of course, anyone else um

[1:10:32] is free to come and speak to us. Um, so

[1:10:36] Ellie Alberto, we welcome you up to the

[1:10:39] podium and um,

[1:10:44] Miss Alert, I am going to read our

[1:10:46] district policy, just setting the

[1:10:48] guidelines for public comment. So,

[1:10:50] district policy 180.05 provides an

[1:10:52] opportunity for the public to address

[1:10:54] the board. We value the public comment

[1:10:57] period and feedback from our

[1:10:59] stakeholders. To comply with open

[1:11:01] meetings law and to ensure consistency,

[1:11:03] public comment will have the following

[1:11:04] parameters. Uh we have a total of 15

[1:11:07] minutes allocated. Uh each speaker has

[1:11:10] up to three minutes in which to make

[1:11:12] their comments. Uh Miss Katie Heights

[1:11:13] will signal uh the speaker when their

[1:11:15] time is up and the board will not

[1:11:18] comment after each speaker but will

[1:11:20] reserve discussion to any items on the

[1:11:22] agenda. Um all speakers are always

[1:11:25] welcome to stay for the entire meeting.

[1:11:27] Um, next steps after public comment may include referral to the appropriate

[1:11:31] administrator for followup or placement

[1:11:34] of the matter on a future board agenda.

[1:11:36] So, welcome and uh the floor is yours.

[1:11:40] >> Good evening. Um, so my name is Ellie

[1:11:42] Uberto. Uh, I'm a parent here in the

[1:11:44] Oregon School District. Um, and I'm

[1:11:47] speaking tonight because I want to urge

[1:11:48] the board to stand completely firm on

[1:11:51] every safeguard outlined in your

[1:11:53] September 18th letter to the village

[1:11:55] regarding the school resource officer

[1:11:57] agreement. I'm not here speaking in

[1:11:59] abstract theories. My family has

[1:12:01] actually experienced firsthand the

[1:12:04] reasons why the safeguards that you have

[1:12:06] outlined in that letter are

[1:12:08] non-negotiable.

[1:12:11] Try to get through this without crying.

[1:12:13] So, following um

[1:12:16] an inschool incident last year involving

[1:12:19] my 8-year-old son.

[1:12:22] The SRO bypassed the administrative

[1:12:25] resolution and referred my child

[1:12:28] directly to the district attorney for

[1:12:30] disorderly conduct, my 8-year-old son.

[1:12:35] That case has since been completely

[1:12:37] dismissed. And while the legal outcome

[1:12:40] validated that it was an administrative

[1:12:42] matter and not a criminal one, the

[1:12:45] process was eyeopening and deeply deeply

[1:12:48] troubling.

[1:12:50] Navigating a criminal referral requires

[1:12:52] a lot of resources, financial

[1:12:54] flexibility,

[1:12:56] legal literacy, the ability for parents

[1:12:59] to take off of work, uh, and social

[1:13:02] capital. Our family had the privilege to

[1:13:05] fight this unnecessary legal battle and

[1:13:07] to clear our child's record. But a

[1:13:10] family with less privilege or fewer

[1:13:12] resources could not have done so and

[1:13:14] receive the same outcome. Unnecessary

[1:13:18] criminalization of standard school

[1:13:20] incidents creates a pipeline that

[1:13:22] permanently alters young lives. It

[1:13:25] disproportionately harms vulnerable

[1:13:27] families who cannot afford the privilege

[1:13:30] of private legal services. Should you

[1:13:34] continue the relationship with the

[1:13:35] village? Elements of your proposal of

[1:13:38] your proposed SRO agreement are vital. I

[1:13:42] read through paragraph 8. You have to

[1:13:43] stand firm on that. The agreement must

[1:13:46] mandate clear objective procedures that

[1:13:49] make parental communication mandatory

[1:13:51] before law enforcement escalates any

[1:13:53] school incident. Something that my

[1:13:55] family was denied. You must also stand

[1:13:58] firm on paragraph 5. Tracking law

[1:14:01] enforcement actions and qualifying

[1:14:03] citations is essential for equity and

[1:14:06] transparency. If the district doesn't

[1:14:08] track these referrals, you cannot

[1:14:11] protect vulnerable students from

[1:14:12] implicit bias or excessive discipline.

[1:14:16] You must also hold the line on the

[1:14:18] one-year agreement. Locking into a

[1:14:20] long-term contract without strict

[1:14:22] accountability creates a massive

[1:14:23] liability for the district and it

[1:14:26] directly harms our children. When an SRO

[1:14:29] can unilaterally file criminal charges

[1:14:32] over nonviolent

[1:14:35] school incidents, the district

[1:14:36] surrenders its fundamental mission to

[1:14:39] teach, discipline, and support its own

[1:14:43] students. Educational discipline belongs

[1:14:45] in the hands of educators, counselors,

[1:14:48] and administrators, not in the criminal

[1:14:50] justice system.

[1:14:53] So, I just I know you're going to close

[1:14:56] session about this afterwards, but like

[1:14:57] please continue fighting for an

[1:14:59] agreement that protects all Oregon

[1:15:01] students regardless of our the family's

[1:15:04] resources.

[1:15:08] » Thank you for your comments.

[1:15:12] Uh, is there one anyone else here for

[1:15:14] public comment this evening?

[1:15:17] Anyone else for public comment? One last

[1:15:20] time, anyone for public comment.

[1:15:24] All right. Uh, we will move to our

[1:15:27] agenda item C and I would entertain a

[1:15:30] motion for close session.

[1:15:35] » I'll make the motion.

[1:15:35] >> Hold on. I'm being signaled here.

[1:15:40] Oh, you want me to read it again?

[1:15:42] >> Okay,

[1:15:43] >> that's all right. Um, I will read it and

[1:15:46] then I will entertain a motion. So, uh,

[1:15:49] we are considering adjourning to close

[1:15:50] session on item G1, I'm sorry, item C1

[1:15:53] as provided under Wisconsin statutes

[1:15:55] 19.851E

[1:15:57] and on item C2 as provided under

[1:15:59] Wisconsin statutes 19.851E

[1:16:02] and 19.851G.

[1:16:05] Uh C1 is discussions regarding

[1:16:08] negotiating the SRO agreement for the

[1:16:10] 2026 2027 school year pursuant to

[1:16:13] Wisconsin statutes 19.851E

[1:16:16] and uh C2 is discussion regarding

[1:16:19] negotiating the 2026 2027 collective

[1:16:22] bargaining agreement with the Oregon

[1:16:24] Education Association pursuant to

[1:16:26] Wisconsin statutes 19.851E

[1:16:29] and conferring with legal counsel about

[1:16:31] negotiations pursuant to 19.851G. 851G.

[1:16:35] Thank you, Gina, for that. And I would

[1:16:37] now entertain a motion as I just read.

[1:16:41] >> I will make the easier motion. Um, as

[1:16:44] Troy just read into the record

[1:16:47] >> to move into session.

[1:16:48] >> Thank you for the motion, Dr. Luda. And

[1:16:51] is there a second?

[1:16:52] >> Second.

[1:16:53] by Miss Garrison. Any discussion

[1:16:55] on moving into close session?

[1:16:58] >> All right, Katie, please call the role.

[1:17:00] >> Dr. Luda,

[1:17:01] >> yes.

[1:17:01] >> Miss Garrison,

[1:17:02] >> yes.

[1:17:02] >> Dr. Mr. Bush.

[1:17:03] >> Yes.

[1:17:04] >> Mr. Lebetter.

[1:17:05] >> Yes.

[1:17:05] >> Miss Wright.

[1:17:06] >> Yes.

[1:17:06] >> Mr. Pinkrretz.

[1:17:07] >> Yes. Motion carries 6. We will take a

[1:17:10] fivem minute recess and then reconvene

[1:17:12] in the meeting room next door. And

[1:17:14] again, I do not uh we will not re we

[1:17:17] will not reconvene in open session this

[1:17:18] evening.

[1:17:28] forward.

Oregon School Board Meeting (9/28/26)

Transcript