Board Meeting Updates

Mounds View School Board Meeting – 6/28

Posted in: Blog, Board Meeting Updates by Tim on June 29, 2011 | No Comments

Open forum: Shoreview Press asked to be considered for being designated as the official paper for legal notices of the district. Circulation of the paper is the east side of the district. While I prefer the content, look and feel of the Shoreview Press over the The Bulletin, I think that the paper selected for official notices should be the paper that reaches the majority of the district (which The Bulletin does achieve).

4.1a – Discussion on legal notice newspaper (pulled out of the consent agenda). The board voted in favor (7-0 vote) of The Bulletin continuing as the official legal notice paper and admended the motion to include all interested papers for inclusion in the bidding process next year.

4.1b – 2003 bonds were refinanced at a large discount. ~6% net present value savings!  Nice work Mounds View Finance Team!

4.2 – Budget amendments (it passed in a 7-0 vote).  No major takeaway on this section, the district was able to reduce the budget for energy savings and had some 1-time budget saves since teacher’s are delaying retirement (likely due to the recession).

4.3 – 2011-2012 Budget Approval (it passed in a 7-0 vote). Below is a summary of the General Fund (The main fund for education revenue & expenses):

• $106M in Revenue (taxes, state aid, federal aid) 
• $113M in Expenditures (cost of district staff, supplies)
• $7M Deficit
• Deficit covered by reducing the ~$25M Unreserved Fund Balance 28%, to ~$18M

Essentially what we see here is an unbalanced budget caused by flat funding from the state, level enrollment projections, and contractual salary increases bringing up expenditures.  No action was taken in this meeting to attempt and balance the budget but it was noted that the board has met and discussed this budget in many work sessions.  It was also noted that continued deficits could cause the districts bond rating (think of it as the districts credit score) to decline.  This may raise the cost of future district borrowing through bonds, short term borrowing, and various other loan types.

5.2 – Superintendent Review: Dan Hooverman performed against his 10/11 District Operating Plan wonderfully and received high praise. I would also like to point out that the superintendent’s 11/12 District Operating Plan (DOP) is quite ambitious and challenging. I’m proud to say that our Superintendent, Dan Hooverman, does not rest on his laurels, but takes on challenges head on!

~Tim Husnik (Running For Mounds View School Board)

Mounds View School Board Meeting – 6/14

Posted in: Blog, Board Meeting Updates by Tim on June 15, 2011 | No Comments

The 11/12 budget for Nutrition Services is a bit out of balance, the board decided not to increase lunch prices at ths point.  Based on the information I received at the meeting it would appear that our lunch prices are ~10% less than surrounding districts but no action was taken to increase lunch prices or make any changes at this point.

Uncertainties with the MN “shut down” concern some board members. The good news is that the district appears to have a healthy cash flow and will move forward with summer programs.  The issue is that if the State of MN shuts down, there will literally not be anyone to cut checks to school districts.  Mounds View does appear to have enough cash to cover operational expenses until August…at which point they’d need to take out short term loans to cover the expenses.

Also, the superintendents’s DOP (district operating plan) for next year is agressive and challenging. I am extremely impressed!

~Tim Husnik  (Running for Mounds View School Board)