Ogilvie schools open public hearing on 4-day week renewal; district cites $201,247.75 personnel savings

The Ogilvie Public School District opened the first of three public hearings on renewing its four-day school week on Feb. 24, with district presenter Kevin Ricky outlining application deadlines, a public-survey plan and a line-by-line financial estimate of the cost implications of returning to a five-day calendar.

Ricky told the board that "Minnesota department ed is now accepting flexible learning 4 day week renewal applications" and that the application deadline is "no later than Friday, 04/25/2025." He presented a spreadsheet of personnel and operating items and said that, conservatively, the district’s personnel-only savings from remaining on a four-day calendar is "a minimum savings of $201,247.75." He added that that figure excludes salaried teachers and some 12-month employees.

The board heard details on specific line items. Ricky cited paraprofessional and hourly-staff wage impacts, calculating additional paraprofessional costs if hours increase; he listed a $22,278.43 estimate for food service, $26,439.54 for transportation and $51,169.07 for office/hourly staff adjustments. Ricky said substitute-cost savings were estimated at $16,164.35. He cautioned some multiplications could overstate overtime risk and described the numbers as conservative estimates based on the district’s audit and prior-year expense data.

Board members probed the underlying assumptions. One member confirmed the district uses 147 student contact days compared with neighboring districts' averages around 170–172 days; another asked whether renewals last three or six years. The chair asked, "this is a renewal for 6 years and not 3. Correct?" Ricky confirmed renewals can be for up to six years and said longer renewals help with budgeting and forecasting.

To collect community input, the district will roll out separate surveys tailored to parents/guardians, community members and students (Ricky proposed surveying students in grades 7–12). Ricky said surveys will be sent to parents through the district’s JMC system and that the district is switching from SurveyMonkey to Google Forms to improve tracking and to produce charts for presentation. He told the board staff will attempt to limit multiple responses (for example by logging responses to an email) while acknowledging that stricter login requirements can reduce participation.

Ricky described the planned timeline for outreach: surveys will be launched after the Feb. 24 meeting with reminders, a "final reminder by the fifteenth," and a planned close on the sixteenth so staff can prepare charts for the next public hearing, scheduled for March 20 at 6 p.m.; a second hearing will be held the following evening. Ricky also said the March presentation could be livestreamed or replayed for those who cannot attend.

Ricky framed the renewal as a local-control decision and cautioned that eliminating the four-day week could require the district to cut positions, reduce programs or seek future tax increases to cover higher operating costs. He noted Ogilvie has run the four-day calendar for 16 years and that at least four other districts were seeking flexible-year applications this cycle.

The board thanked district staff responsible for the financial review and survey preparation. The hearing was adjourned with the district planning to present compiled survey results and the spreadsheet analysis at the March 20 public hearing.

The board did not take any formal vote during this session. Next procedural step: staff will launch surveys, collect and summarize results, and present findings at the March public hearing.