In December 2015, the School Board awarded the District’s property, casualty, and liability insurance contract to the Minnesota Insurance Scholastic Trust (MIST). MIST provides the benefit of self-insurance cooperative purchasing, and 26 school districts currently participate in the MIST program. Any remaining funds at the end of a claim year are distributed among member districts. The overall property insurance market continues to harden considerably. This, coupled with inflation, has resulted in a significant increase to the District’s premiums. The District’s renewal for the July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024 period is a 35.9 percent increase over the prior year. During the District’s initial budget development that took place in the fall of 2022, the administration assumed a 25.0 percent increase.

In an ongoing effort to increase our physical security posture, EPS will be purchasing Raptor Visitor Management System. Through Raptor, we will have a better handle on who is in our buildings at all times. This will aid us in a rapid response should a crisis occur on Campus.  Raptor will screen visitors, contractors, and volunteers prior to their entrance in the building.

An update of the current status of the cooperation agreement between the City of Edina and School Board will be given to the board.

The board will be having its annual summer retreat on July 11th and 12th at Arneson Acres. The attached document is an overview of a proposed agenda, as well as an overview of the proposed process to set board goals for the 2023-2024 school year.

The fiscal year 2023 budget was developed using the most reliable information available at the time of adoption in June 2022. As superior information and data becomes available, the District is able to make adjustments to reflect the actual operations of the District. Expected enrollment versus actual enrollment, projected staffing vs actual staffing, fluctuations to supply and material costs, and the timing of expenditures made against federal awards are just a few of the countless budgetary variables that can change during a school year.

Minnesota Education Laws 2023 were used as the basis for building the fiscal year 2023-2024 budget which includes a 4.0% increase in the state basic education revenue formula, an increase to special education cross subsidy aid from 6.4% of the cross subsidy to 44.0%, and an increase to per pupil English Learner revenue from $704 to $1,228.

The District will also experience an increase of $229 per pupil in operating referendum authority and a 5.5% increase to the capital projects levy, directly proportional to the increase to the net tax capacity of the District. The development of the District’s budget for the 2023-2024 school year, which was concluded before the end of the 2023 legislative session, includes approximately $4.0M of cost containment measures. The cost containment measures include but are not limited to: the elimination of all non-special education paraprofessionals hired with one-time federal pandemic relief funds, the "right sizing" of licensed staff at the middle school level in accordance with established District class-size ratios, the elimination of certain central office administrative staff through attrition, and the indefinite deferral of certain capital purchases.

A set of superintendent goals were approved in September 2022 that are aligned with the goals and benchmarks of the strategic plan.  Progress toward goals was reviewed in February of 2023. This information is intended to provide full year overview of progress toward completing goals.   All benchmarks and timelines were attained.