Pelican Rapids board approves 2027'29 Achievement and Integration plan and accompanying budget

The Pelican Rapids Public Schools Board of Education approved the district's 2027'29 Achievement and Integration (ANI) plan and the FY27 ANI budget during its regular meeting. The plan, filed annually with the Minnesota Department of Education, lays out a three-year strategy to reduce achievement disparities, increase racial and economic integration, expand equitable access to effective and diverse teachers, and strengthen cultural-immersion programming.

"This will be for July of 2026 to June of 2029. So as you may remember from past presentations on this. This is a three-year plan," said Mrs. Walter as she opened the ANI presentation and reviewed goals and measures tied to state testing changes. Walters explained the statewide transition from MCA3 to MCA4 tests and said the 2026'27 school year will provide the baseline data the district needs to finalize numerical targets.

Under the plan, the district set mirrored targets for reading and math focused on students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch: the initial target is 60% or more scoring in the intermediate'advanced range on the MCA4 assessments for the 2027'29 period, but Walter said the percentage may be adjusted once a first-year baseline is available. Strategies tied to those goals include core literacy supports, targeted interventions, READ 180 at the high school, Viking student-success programming, and family-engagement initiatives to boost conference attendance and participation.

For teacher quality, the plan calls for professional development on culture, race, ethnicity, poverty and mental health for 100% of teachers each year, and pipeline efforts such as introductory education and early-childhood courses to encourage local students into teaching careers. Cultural-immersion events with partner districts and a planned annual culture fair aim to increase student understanding; the district's target is that 80% or more of participating students report increased comfort or understanding following events.

Finance staff presented the ANI budget tied to those strategies. Mr. Martinez told the board the district expects about $176,000 in ANI revenue for the coming fiscal year; the proposed ANI expenditures submitted to the state total approximately $220,000, reflecting a common practice of showing higher projected expenditures in anticipation of a later state "true-up" that can increase final revenue allocations.

The board moved and seconded the business items. The motion to approve the 2027'29 ANI plan carried by voice vote; a separate motion to approve the FY27 ANI budget also carried. The transcript records the votes as voice approvals; exact roll-call tallies were not specified in the record.

The plan and budget now proceed to the district's implementation phase, which the consultant and district staff said will include listening sessions, a community survey window in mid-September, an Elevating Student Success team and progress-monitoring templates to track implementation and revisions over time.