Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Board taps former board member to fill Jacobson's seat
On Monday, Sept. 9, the New Rockford-Sheyenne School Board held a public levy meeting and their regular school board meeting.
The district’s finances, enrollment numbers and taxes were among the most notable discussion points in both meetings, and NR-S Business Manager Dave Skogen gave a presentation which outlined the district’s current situation.
Regarding enrollment, Skogen reported a significant increase. Fall enrollment for the 2024-25 school year stands at 350 students in pre-K through 12th grade, which is 25 more than the district had the previous school year.
The breakdown Skogen provided shows 19 students in pre-K and 29 in kindergarten. Meanwhile, the biggest classes are 3rd grade with 40 students and the current sophomore class with 31 students.
This year’s senior and junior classes are among the smallest class sizes pre-K -12, with 21 students and 17 students, respectively.
The increase in enrollment will certainly benefit the district’s bottom line, as additional foundation aid from the state will likely be provided to the school as a result. However, as Skogen also noted several times, the district’s margins are still tight.
“We gotta tighten up our belt and do a better job, there’s no doubt about that,” said Skogen regarding the district’s financial situation.
According to the final budget approved by board members Monday night, the district is expected to be $14,650 in the black. That’s despite the additional costs associated with services from East Central, which caused some controversy last month.
The East Central line item in the district’s 2024-25 preliminary budget was at $540,000 a month ago. That number is now $610,814 in their final budget.
However, Skogen said he was also able to increase the district’s expected revenue for the coming year, offsetting much of those additional costs related to East Central.
The additional Title funds have increased the expected revenue outlined in the district’s final budget to a total of $5,151,145.97, while the total expenses amount to $5,136,495.94.
A graph posted online at http://www.newrockfordtranscript.com illustrates how the school will spend their $5.151 million in projected revenue this school year.
Meanwhile, regarding taxes, Skogen noted that the district’s mill levy will be going down this year, from 99.54 last year to 92.88.
In dollars, that’s a decrease from about $1.760 million in taxes collected last school year, to just over $1.650 million to be collected this school year.
The decrease in property taxes is due to the district’s “over-milling” for debt service the previous two years. To correct for the error, the district is decreasing the number of mills levied for its debt service fund – from 13.64 mills ($236K) to just 7.1 mills ($126K).
Skogen also provided a graph comparing the number of mills levied by NR-S to other nearby schools of similar size, which will also be made available on our website.
Following their budget discussions, the board members also addressed the resignation of school board member Mike Jacobson, beginning with a quick approval of the resignation.
When discussing how they would move forward with filling the position, school board president Todd Allmaras suggested appointing Mary Kay Price, a former board member who represented the former New Rockford district who chose not to run for reelection in June of this year.
Allmaras said he would like to see the board appoint someone who won’t intend to run for reelection when Jacobson’s former seat goes up for grabs next year, and who could hit the ground running once they’re appointed.
The commission seemed to agree with asking Price if she’s interested. Should she decline, however, the board would have to find someone else to appoint or hold a special election.
The board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.
