Photo by Kaitlin Longhauser
Caledonia Public School Board members met Monday, December 15 at Caledonia Elementary School. Boardmember Mike Peterson called the meeting to order at 5:34 p.m., led with the Pledge of Allegiance, then conducted roll call. All board members, principals, Superintendent Craig Ihrke, and Community Education Director Gretchen Juan were present.
Caledonia Middle/High School students Caya White and Kaylee Stokman shared a brief presentation proposing for cross country to be added as an elective activity. White first explained what cross country is, followed by Stokman highlighting the benefits cross country brings in that the activity promotes lifelong health fitness, team work, and goal setting. White informed that the inclusion of cross country would cost $28,200 which includes a head coach, equipment, bussing, and more. A prospective coach had even been found, Jimmy Westland. Stokman acknowledged cross country to be an inclusive low cost activity for grades 7-12. The activity supports other student athletes and is a noncontact sport. Cross country allows students who do not have a history with sports involvement to become involved. White showed a signature sheet with 25 interested students signed up. At the end of the presentation Boardmember Spencer Yohe commented, “I’ll be all for it.” Superintendent Ihrke felt this was a good idea to bring to the activities committee. The activities committee will look it over.
Luke Greden from Clifton, Larson Allen, LLP joined the meeting remotely to present the district’s audit report. The district received a clean audit with no compliance issues.
Greden presented expense figures for the district to review. For General Fund Expenditures by Object – 72.26% went towards salaries and benefits, 21.77% went towards purchased services, 3.57% for supplies, 1.78% towards capital, and 0.63% towards other. For General Fund Expenditures by Program – 40.08% went towards regular, 20.57% towards special education, 10.21% towards pupil support, 9.56% towards administration and district support, 9.38% towards buildings, 4.15% towards instructional support, 3.24% towards vocational, 1.78% towards capital, and 1.03% towards other. For General Fund Revenue – 79.16% came from state sources, 12.66% from local property taxes, 6.76% from other, and 1.42% from federal sources.
Greden shared the district’s five-year trend for student enrollment with 694 students enrolled in 2025, 700 in 2024, 705 in 2023, 714 in 2022, and 722 in 2021.
Board members listened to student Samantha Peters’ student school board member report, then moved on to the Truth in Taxation hearing to discuss the 2026 budget and levy. Boardmember Melissa Marschall moved, seconded by Derek Adamson, to adopt the final levy certification for 2026 in the amount of $2,511,818.19. Motion carried.
The Consent Agenda was approved, which consisted of approving the resignation of Zach Hauser as assistant baseball coach, approving the hiring of Hailey Gavin as a CAPS Care teacher, and for Superintendent Ihrke to apply for another Flexible Learning Year Application.
The board will hold an organizational school board meeting on Monday, January 5 at 6:15 p.m.
The Comprehensive Achievement and Civic Readiness (CACR) Annual Summary Report was approved. Ihrke commented that the report has to be done each year where the report shows goals the district has set. The report also includes how the district did on meeting its goals.
Elementary Principal John Wahlstrom informed the board about Math Wizards, an opportunity in southeastern Minnesota for high-achieving math students in grades 5 and 6 to compete against other schools. Since grades 5 and 6 are in separate buildings with fifth grade at the elementary school and sixth grade at the middle/high school, Wahlstrom recommended for Math Wizards to be just for fifth graders. The program consists of three competitions where two groups of five fifth graders (10 students total) will have the opportunity to compete. Fifth grade teacher Jake Hebeisen will be the Math Wizards Advisor. The board unanimously approved adding the Math Wizards Advisor position to the Caledonia Chapter of the River Valley Education Association Teacher Master Agreement.
At the end of the meeting, Boardmember Yohe announced his resignation from the Caledonia Area Public School Board after serving on the board for 17 years. Yohe would like to be remembered for his integrity. The board thanked Yohe for his generous service all these years.
The board meeting adjourned at 7 p.m.
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