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Rock Ridge board certifies preliminary levy at maximum and approves multiple agreements
Summary
At its regular meeting, the Rock Ridge School Board unanimously certified the district's proposed pay-2025/pay-2026 levy at the maximum and approved a set of intergovernmental agreements and program contracts, including an Area Learning Center partnership with Hibbing, a sale of underused parking lots to the City of Virginia, a memorandum of understanding with the Virginia Police Department, and the 2025-26 School Resource Officer agreement.
The Rock Ridge School Board voted unanimously to certify the district's proposed pay-2025/pay-2026 levy at the maximum and approved several operational and partnership agreements during its regular meeting.
Andrea, the district staff member who presented levy information, told the board that the State Department of Education (NDE) was still making enrollment and other adjustments and that final levy figures would be certified at the district's Truth-in-Taxation hearing on Dec. 8. "So tonight, I'm here to ask the board to certify the proposed levy, the proposed pay 25 pay 26 levy at maximum," Andrea said. Board members approved the request without opposition; the motion passed unanimously.
The board also approved a letter of cooperation with Hibbing Public Schools to create an in-house Area Learning Center (ALC) that will serve eligible K-12 students who previously received some services through a regional consortium (NLC). Scott and other administrators said the arrangement will replace consortium services and allow the district and Hibbing to run alternative-education programming locally. "We're partnering with Hibbing to create our own ALC because by law we have to have a partner district," one administrator said.
In other business, the board accepted an offer from the City of Virginia to buy three underused parking lots that became surplus after the high school moved; staff noted maps in the meeting packet and said the lots generally sit empty outside major events. Administrators described the offer as fair and the motion to approve the sale passed unanimously.
The board also approved a memorandum of understanding with the Virginia Police Department and an agreement with the City of Virginia for the school resource officer (SRO) program for 2025-26. Superintendent Doctor Schmidt praised local law enforcement and first responders for their coordination on drills and emergency planning, saying agencies have been "outstanding to work with."
Additionally, the district approved a contract to provide concurrent-enrollment courses through Lake Superior College and renewed membership in the Minnesota Rural Education Association for $2,500 for 07/01/2025 through 06/30/2026. All motions recorded in the meeting were approved by unanimous voice vote.
Votes at a glance
- Agenda and consent agenda: approved unanimously. - Proposed levy (pay 2025/pay 2026) certified at the maximum: approved unanimously. Final certified amount to be determined after state adjustments and at the Dec. 8 Truth-in-Taxation meeting. - Letter of cooperation with Hibbing Public Schools to establish an Area Learning Center (K-12): approved unanimously. - Sale of three unused school parking lots to the City of Virginia: approved unanimously. - Memorandum of Understanding with the Virginia Police Department: approved unanimously. - School Resource Officer agreement (2025-26): approved unanimously. - Concurrent-enrollment agreement with Lake Superior College: approved unanimously. - Renewal of Minnesota Rural Education Association membership ($2,500): approved unanimously.
The board announced its next regular meeting for Monday, Oct. 13 at 6:00 p.m. at the Rock Ridge Administration Building and adjourned without further action.
