NRHEG plans for year

During their Jan. 5 organizational meeting, members of the NRHEG school board reinstated the same slate of officers as during 2025: chair, Rick Schultz; vice chair, Loren Schoenrock; clerk, Terri Engel; treasurer, Pat Theuer.

 

Board members will also receive the same compensation as in 2025: $100 for each regular or special meeting; $150 for all-day meetings. Three officers will also receive a small stipend for serving in their positions: board chair, $200; clerk, $150; treasurer, $100.

The NRHEG Star Eagle will be the school district’s official publication. The New Richland State Bank and Minnesota School District Liquid Assets Fund are the official depositories. Board meetings will continue to take place at 6:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month, except when displaced by legal holidays, when they will be on the Tuesday following the third Monday. The location of regular meetings alternates between the media centers of the Ellendale and New Richland sites. The January, March, May, July, September and November meetings will be at the elementary building in Ellendale. In February, April, June, August, October and December, the meetings will be in the secondary building in New Richland.

 

Board members also accepted positions on various committees; examples are the policy, transport, and buildings and grounds committees.

 

With the organizational work of the meeting complete, district superintendent Michael Meihak initiated a discussion regarding the school district’s finances.

 

He acknowledged that the district has a 39% general fund balance, roughly enough to support district operations a third of a year; state agencies recommend that public entities maintain an undesignated fund balance of about 25% as a buffer against emergencies or delays. While complimenting business manager Karla Christopherson on her acumen in maintaining the balance, Meihak pointed out the district has gone into deficit spending in a number of recent budget years, eating away at the fund balance.

 

As the Star Eagle reported in June, the district’s  2025-26 budget called for just over $39.5 million in expenditures with expected income of about $39.3 million. With other elements taken into account, the numbers lead to an anticipated decrease of $67,000 to the $10.5 million general fund.

 

Meihaik pointed out this year’s expenditures will determine the actual end-of-year balance, suggesting that a warmer winter might lead to unspent budget money while an emergency repair could have the opposite effect. His comments implied the district may want to begin considering going to area taxpayers for a tax referendum–money approved by voters to support the school’s operation. For the current school year, about 17.5 percent of the costs are covered by local taxes, with the remainder coming mostly from the state. At this time, of the 363 school districts in Minnesota, roughly three-quarters rely on voter-approved referendum money to meet annual operating costs.

 

If the board should support going to voters for a referendum, the soonest the vote would likely occur is this fall’s November election; preparing for it would require months of work and planning.