Family expresses concern, budget work underway

The family of Samuel Houle, an NRHEG senior who died by suicide March 21 of this year, spoke forcefully during the June 17 school board meeting asking for “a total and complete overhaul” of the secondary school’s leadership.

 

Samuel’s parents, Glenn and LeAnn Houle, and maternal grandparents Janelle and Bruce Hayden, were present for the “public comment” portion of the meeting.

 

Glenn began by expressing his thanks to the members of the NRHEG staff and to the graduating class of 2024 for their sympathetic outpouring after Samuel’s death. He then went on to mention an incident which had occurred in a school classroom. Saying that although a teacher and a number of students had contacted the principal regarding that incident, no information about it had been passed along to his family, Glenn stated “We are convinced Samuel would have been alive to this day had the principal notified us about that altercation.”

 

Saying that Samuel had been subjected to ongoing and persistent mistreatment by a group of students, Glenn claimed school leadership knew who those students were and failed to impose sufficient discipline. 

 

Samuel’s grandfather, Bruce Hayden, stated “From March 21 to June 17, I am still devastated. I don’t want anyone in any other place to go through this, it hurts so badly.”

 

Hayden stated he had heard from NRHEG students who said they had seen the bullying behavior toward Samuel, but had been afraid to speak up, fearing the bullies would turn their attention toward them.

 

“Some of you know exactly who some of them are,” Hayden said to the school board members.  

 

“We’ve got to do something. Please don’t let this happen to any other kids.”

 

As they closed their comments, family members offered to meet with school board members privately to show them emails and other information which had been shared with them regarding mistreatment Samuel had been targeted with during his school career.

 

School board chair Rick Schultz expressed willingness for a private meeting, then extended sympathies to the family “on behalf of the NRHEG district, its school board, staff and students.”

 

During its June 17 meeting, the NRHEG School board approved a preliminary 2024-25 school year budget which included $13.4 million in expenditures and nearly $13.2 million in anticipated revenue. The combination, district business manager Karla Christopherson told board members, will reduce the district’s $3.5 million “general fund” by about $360,000.

 

The general fund is money which has been set aside at the recommendation of the Minnesota State School Board Association; the expectation is that, if something were to keep the district from receiving its scheduled income, the district could operate for roughly three months on the undesignated money. NRHEG’s anticipated general fund amount entering the 2024-25 school year is about $3.5 million, according to business manager Karla Christopherson.

 

Governmental units which receive public property taxes in Minnesota are expected to report their anticipated annual levy to the county by mid-September and to have a “final” levy in place in December. These amounts are used to determine how many property tax dollars will be needed to fund the various entities associated with a piece of property; these include the city or township, the county, and the local public school. 

 

During discussion, it was mentioned the NRHEG school district is among about 90 of Minnesota’s 360 school districts which carries out its annual operations without asking local voters for an “operating levy,” that is, property tax dollars in addition to the amount allowed under statute. Of the $13.4 million used to meet the school’s financial obligations for the 2024-25 school year, about 17.5 percent or $2.4 million will be from local taxpayers.

 

School board members also learned that property insurance rates are rising for everyone. In the case of the school, insuring its $70 million worth of buildings and property will cost $139,600 in 2024-25, about 13 percent more than the 2023-24 rate of $115,500. Tyler Firme of Heinz Insurance out of Owatonna told board members the increase might have been more if not for the district’s strong past performance and some of the safety upgrades taking place in the buildings this summer.

 

Firme explained insurance carriers have suffered losses because of the damage caused all over the state by extreme weather. Those losses have led to rate increases across the board.

 

The board accepted the resignation of Kelly Delacruz, family and consumer sciences teacher at the high school for the past five years. Delacruz has accepted a position with the Austin school district.

 

School board member Rich Mueller mentioned that a group tour of Australia which included 46 NRHEG students and chaperones was underway. Put together by the school social studies department, the trip had been in planning for more than a year.

 

South Central Service Cooperative “Workforce Coordinator” Pam Krill reported to the board regarding programs and initiatives offered through her position. Krill coordinates events meant to inform students about job and career opportunities. She works with a number of regional schools, finding agencies and companies which will bring programs and resources to the schools, or arranging for students to visit area locations. During her presentation, she stated that one intent of her position is to help students see a wide variety of job fields and careers are available locally. Krill mentioned a “reality day” attended by NRHEG juniors and an “agricultural career” day at Farmamerica among the events which took place this year.

 

“We work to make sure economic development begins in our schools,” Krill said. “We help encourage young people to come back and be part of the local economy.”