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Monticello Educational & Scholarship Foundation reports $162,150 awarded in FY24; $2.6 million endowment moved to community foundation

Monticello Public School District Board of Education · February 25, 2025

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Summary

Dr. Jim Johnson told the board the foundation distributed $162,150 in 78 scholarships in fiscal year 2024, moved endowment assets to Central Minnesota Community Foundation to improve investment returns, and requested volunteer readers for April scholarship evaluations.

Dr. Jim Johnson, representing the Monticello Educational & Scholarship Foundation, reported to the board that the foundation awarded $162,150 in scholarships across 78 awards during fiscal year 2024 and that the foundation's assets are now managed by the Central Minnesota Community Foundation.

Johnson said the move followed auditor recommendations and a two-year review to allow more diversified investments and higher returns than the district could provide under public-entity rules. He said the foundation's managed assets total about $2.6 million and emphasized many funds are endowed, meaning the principal remains invested to generate annual scholarship distributions.

Johnson said the number of scholarships awarded last year was down about $2,500 from the prior year and that the committee is investigating causes (for example, donor lifecycle changes). He described a blind application review process and asked the board and community to volunteer as scorers between April 7 and April 14; volunteers would each evaluate roughly 10 anonymized applications under provided criteria.

Johnson said the foundation awards scholarships for a range of postsecondary paths, including short-term vocational programs, two-year and four-year programs, and medical-field scholarships funded by named family funds. Board members expressed appreciation for the foundation's work; no board action was taken on the report.