Board hears proposed 2025'26 operating capital and long'term facility maintenance plan, indoor air quality update

Val Merdersdorf, director of finance, presented the proposed 2025'26 operating capital and long'term facility maintenance (LTFM) budget and the district's 10'year LTFM plan.

Merdersdorf said total projected revenue across operating capital, lease levy, capital levy and LTFM is about $4.9 million for 2025'26. She broke the revenue mix into operating capital (just over $900,000), lease levy (about $451,000), voter'approved capital projects levy (a little over $2,000,000) and LTFM (about $1,300,000). She noted the voter'approved capital levy increase approved by voters in 2022 is the largest single piece of the revenue picture.

Planned expenditures presented total roughly $4.6 million, leaving targeted fund balances: operating capital projected to end around $367,000 (board minimum $200,000) and LTFM around $814,000 (board goal $600,000). Merdersdorf said the LTFM per'pupil allocation in the state formula is roughly $380 per pupil and that the district is intentionally building LTFM fund balance to prepare for larger future projects, including high school work and ALC remodeling.

Specific capital and LTFM projects Merdersdorf highlighted for 2025'26 include resurfacing and accessibility work (Spring Creek playground port'in'place surface), removing several locker bays at the middle school to create flexible learning space, tuckpointing, pavement repair, new middle school network switches and updated high school media center computers, refinishing the NCEC gym floor and replacing gym doors at Bridgewater. She said some purchases will be lease arrangements (for example, a new front loader leased to own because of the upfront cost) and that the district received notable revenue in 2023'24 from the sale of iPads when the lease cycle rolled off.

Merdersdorf described the operating capital and LTFM revenue streams as restricted funds governed by state statute and Department of Education coding; she said those rules determine allowable expenditures and fund balance handling.

Justin Robley, director of buildings and grounds, described the district's indoor air quality process. He said staff use a survey run by IEA to collect reported IAQ concerns from employees, then the district investigates and schedules work using LTFM funds for remediation. Robley said most issues identified this year were minor and routine. He told the board the high school is the one building that is not compliant with current standards for ventilation and filtration; he did not provide exact air exchange numbers at the meeting but said improvements tied to the reimagine high school project will address many of those needs.

Board members asked about procurement timing (summer contractors) and how LTFM planning is adjusted around the high school reimagine project; Merdersdorf and Robley said the district will continue to maintain occupied spaces and prioritize critical maintenance while avoiding unnecessary investments in areas slated for replacement. Robley confirmed the transit van and front loader described in the budget are planned to be new units purchased for district use.

The board did not vote on the plan at the meeting. Merdersdorf said the board will be asked to approve the LTFM 10'year and indoor air quality management plan at the February 24 meeting, and that she will transfer detailed plan figures into required MDE forms in July when they are released.