Owatonna Public Schools
District Newsletter - December 2021
Balancing the Budget with Kids in Mind
Amanda Heilman, Director of Finance and Operations
This article first appeared in the Owatonna People's Press in November
As a school district, our number one priority is always our students. How can we best support them, provide them with the best staff and offer them a wide range of learning opportunities?
As Director of Finance and Operations for the Owatonna Public Schools, one of my primary roles is to provide leadership for financial decisions. I’m proud to say that thanks to the hard work of our team, we have earned the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting award from the Association of School Business Officials International, along with the Minnesota Department of Education School Finance Award for exhibiting fiscal health, sound fiscal management and accountability - for 23 years running!
Every fall, we go through a number of financial steps that are critical for the effective management of our school district.
We once again received a “clean” audit report on our financial statements from our independent auditor, which is the highest opinion an auditor can issue. Our team works hard to prepare for this audit and to ensure that we are fiscally responsible with our taxpayers’ dollars.
In December, we will finalize our board-approved levy certification for the 2022-23 school year. I’m pleased to report that we are projecting a decrease in our levy of approximately 1.5 percent, resulting in a savings to taxpayers. This compares to the state average of a 4.5 percent increase.
The past few years have been challenging on many levels. Due to state funding not keeping pace with inflation and ongoing unfunded mandates, school budgets have been tight. The pandemic made budgets even tighter. We have made difficult decisions to maintain a balanced budget and adequate reserve fund, resulting in cuts of $4.5 million dollars over the last three years.
Owatonna Public Schools, like many districts, lost students last year during the pandemic to homeschool or online learning - which meant less revenue to fund staff and programs for our remaining students. We also had increased expenses for personal protective equipment, technology and other pandemic-related needs. All Minnesota school districts were fortunate to receive federal funding to help us navigate through these additional budget challenges.
Our federal COVID relief funding is being used to maintain class size limits, address student learning loss, provide support for social and emotional learning, expand opportunities for our students through 1:1 devices, and support after school and summer school programming. Unfortunately, these extra funds will only last through the 2023-24 school year, which means we will need to either identify new revenue or make major cuts at that time.
Looking ahead, we hope for relative financial stability for the next two years. The federal funds were meant to provide one-time funding for specific pandemic-related needs, and they have been a huge help to us. When they run out, we will face budget challenges and will likely need to ask our voters for additional financial support. Until then, we will continue to utilize our resources to create great learning opportunities for all the students in our community.
Truth in Taxation and December School Board Meeting
Date/Time: Monday, December 13, 2021 at 6:00 PM
Location: Owatonna High School, Small Group Forum, 333 East School Street (Door #16)
The regular school board meeting items will immediately follow Truth in Taxation.
Mission Moment
At the School Board Meeting on Monday, November 22, Superintendent Elstad recognized Alec Harris, OHS student who participated in Minnesota's All-State Choir this year. Our All-State Music students inspire excellence with both their academic abilities and their musical talents!
Also recognized were the Owatonna Public Schools secretaries who have helped navigate the District through challenging times and are the "Swiss army knives" in school buildings. They are the District's frontline employees who are faced with a wide variety of tasks. We cannot thank them enough for all they do from the time they start working in the district until they leave in retirement!
We are #OwatonnaProud of our staff and students!
Winter Break
Early Release
School will release 2 hours early on Thursday, December 23
No SchoolDecember 24-December 31, 2021
School resumes on Monday, January 3, 2022. Enjoy your break!
School Attendance
Regular school attendance is directly related to success in academic work, benefits students socially, provides opportunities for important communications between teachers and students, and establishes regular habits of dependability important to the future of the student.
The District's attendance policy was recently updated. Please take a moment to review it. An important update to the policy includes a section regarding accommodation for religious observance: Reasonable efforts will be made by the school district to accommodate any student who wishes to be excused from a curricular activity for a religious observance. Requests for accommodations should be directed to the building principal.
State of the District
Superintendent Jeff Elstad has released his second annual State of the District presentation to give the community an update on our school district’s latest progress and where we are headed. In just ten minutes you’ll learn of some of the challenges and successes of the past year, what this year’s focus is for our students, and exciting things to come. To watch from the comfort of your own home, just click on the link below. Questions and feedback can be directed to Jeff Elstad at jelstad@isd761.org.
World's Best Workforce Annual Meeting
Questions? Contact:
Michelle Krell, Director of Teaching and Learning
Email: mkrell@isd761.org
Phone: 507-444-8613
COVID-19 Information
While we had all hoped that the pandemic would be in a different phase this school year, the unseen benefit is that we know what steps to take to minimize the spread in our schools and protect in-person learning. Stay up-to-date on information and resources by frequently checking the District's COVID-19 information webpage (www.isd761.org and click on "COVID-19" at the top of the webpage).
Our number one goal is to help ensure a safe and healthy school year for all our students and educators. While we are employing several mitigation strategies such as masking recommendations, social distancing when feasible, and sanitizing, COVID-19 testing will play a critical role in our efforts to keep students in their classrooms and participating in extracurricular activities. The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) have improved their first-in-the-nation statewide COVID-19 testing program with new testing resources and we are committed to using every tool at our disposal.
Students who wish to use an at-home test from the District may pick it up from the school nurse's office, or a parent can contact their school's nurse to request a test to pick up. More information about the tests can be found here, on the school district website, or in last month's e-newsletter.
More resources:
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Contact Us
Email: shoffman@isd761.org
Website: www.isd761.org
Location: 515 West Bridge Street, Owatonna, MN, USA
Phone: 507-444-8600
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Owatonna761/
Twitter: @Owatonna761