Board corrects county tax worksheet, advances 2025–26 preliminary budget and adopts tuition levy

The OAKES 41 School Board approved a third reading of its 2025–26 preliminary budget and adopted a tuition-levy resolution after staff corrected a county tax-worksheet number that slightly changed the district’s calculations.

Staff said the Deacon County tax-equalization director provided an incorrect figure for one worksheet line (line 19), which staff corrected; the change adjusted gap-funding figures by only a few dollars but staff said they wanted the worksheet fully accurate to maximize potential gap funding from DPI. The presenter reported a gap-funding figure of $14,142.23 (reported value from the meeting). (Attribution: Presenter)

The board also discussed the tuition levy, described in the meeting as the levy the district may assess for grades 7–12 to cover mandated tuition costs such as CDE classes and parent-placed students. The presenter said the district has not previously assessed this levy and that it is justified by recent mandated costs. The board moved and approved the tuition-levy resolution (vote recorded as unanimous 5–0).

On the preliminary budget, members first moved an item from consent to discussion, took a roll-call vote to approve the consent agenda with the removal, and later approved the third reading of the 2025–26 preliminary budget by roll-call. The chair set the tax-levy hearing for Sept. 16 at 7:00 a.m. in the Central Office conference room; the regular meeting to finalize the budget will follow at 7:30 a.m.

Recorded roll-call tallies and motions were recorded in the meeting transcript; the board clerk recorded votes and the motions passed as noted (motions passed recorded as 5–0 on roll calls and voice votes in the transcript).