Photo by Wanda Hanson
At their regular meeting June 15, the Rushford-Peterson School approved their revised 2025-2026 budget as well as their proposed 2026-2027 budget. Business Manager Toni Oian walked the board through the budgets, presenting them side-by-side for easy comparison.
Total expenditure for debt services in 2026-2027 was projected at $2.6 million, down from $2.7 million in 2025-2026.
In food service, the expenditures were expected to go up in 2026-2027. New steamers will be purchased for the kitchen to spend down excess funds. The food service director plans to bring back the popular salad bar next year again. Having the salad bar is an additional cost, but students appreciate the healthy choice. The fund can easily absorb that loss. If the balance is not spent down, the school may receive less funding from the state.
Some general fund money will be reallocated for community education. An $80,000 transfer will be made to community education for preschool from the general fund. According to Oian, the community education fund is “slowly getting to the positive side.”
The general fund is projected to have total expenditures of $9,595,967 for the year 2026-2027. In 2025-2026 the revised total expenditures were $9,540,775. A necessary elevator project and higher HVED costs than expected were some of the items that affected the budget. A deficit of $112,071 is projected for the 2026-2027 year.
Next year’s kindergarten class has only 25 students registered at this time. While kindergarten usually sees more students registering over summer, Superintendent Dr. Ben Bernard shared that several families had opted to wait a year before sending their child to school. The following year the class is expected to be a lot bigger; about 35 kindergarten students are expected the next year.
With the increase in offerings for concurrent classes next year, Bernard anticipates that fewer high school students will be choosing to take PSEO (Post Secondary Options) classes. This would help the budget; funding for the students would remain at R-P. Bernard also pointed out that the activities director position is halftime.
The school board unanimously approved both the revised 2025-2026 budget as well as the proposed 2026-2027 budget.
Milk and Snow Bids
The board returned to the subject of milk and snow removal bids after tabling the subject last month. As he promised, Bernard had a milk survey completed with the students to learn if they preferred one milk over the other. A case of milk was obtained from both Ziebell’s and Kemp’s. The students preferred the Prairie Farms milk from Ziebell’s which was also less expensive. The board approved selecting Ziebell’s bid with a savings of almost $7,000.
The board chose to accept Jim Atkinson’s bid of $10,225 for snow removal rather than renting a skid loader and paying personnel. The board wanted to keep the snow removal consistent by remaining with Atkinson.
Personnel
New hires at Rushford-Peterson included Alexa Houser, MSHS Ag teacher; Jeff Cole, Activities director; Monte Tudahl, custodian, Isaac Feine, Student custodian; Christian Lindmeier, student custodian; Sadie Stiever, Kids Club; Jake Miller, Kids Club; and Edysen Schwendinger, Kids Club. Resignations were accepted from Haylee Payne, JH volleyball; and Dale Moga, track meet manager.
Superintendent’s Report
Dr. Bernard shared that the work on the front wall of the building began that very day, June 15. The existing wall will be sandblasted to create an exposed aggregate surface which will then be sealed. Sidewalks will be replaced and damaged railings will be repaired. The project is expected to take four to six weeks to complete. The main door access to the school will not be available during the repairs.
The issue with the wall had been discussed at Bernard’s first board meeting four years ago. Finally, a resolution and repair will occur!
Other Business
In other business, the board:
•Approved individual contracts for 2025-2027; these are contracts with non-union employees;
•Approved the Literacy Plan; this is a state-mandated report due annually;
•Approved the 2025-2026 annual Q-Comp report (also state mandated);
•Designated Dr. Bernard as the identified official with authority for the MDE external user access recertification system;
Accepted donations totalling $5,090.
Leave a Reply