The Crookston School Board met on Monday to discuss the approval of the 2026 preliminary tax levy and set a Truth in Taxation hearing date, among other topics.
PRELIMINARY TAX LEVY/TRUTH IN TAXATION HEARING SATE
Crookston Public Schools Business Manager Blake Stoltman brought a resolution to the school board to approve the 2026 preliminary tax levy, payable in 2027. The board approved the maximum levy, which Stoltman updated at $3,639,959 but informed the board that the number has been changing multiple times per day due to some issues on the end of the Minnesota Department of Education. Stoltman plans to have a firm number for the board by the deadline of Wednesday, September 30 to submit preliminary levies for cities, counties, and school districts to the state. “It’s actually something that’s done every single year,” said Stoltman. “We can always do the max levy and always come back and lower the amount we’re going to levy against the taxpayer. The numbers are very fluid right now. They’re changing from day to day, hour by hour. There are some issues at the state level with some of the system stuff, but I’m working closely with them to get them resolved.”
In addition, the board approved the proposed date for the Truth in Taxation public hearing, which would be held on Monday, December 14, at 6:00 p.m. in the choir/orchestra room at Crookston High School.
FUNDRAISING REQUESTS
The school board reviewed and approved 11 fundraising requests submitted for the 2026-27 school year. Superintendent Todd Selk understands that some organizations have been conducting fundraisers for many years, but going forward, he would like to focus on providing the funds to these programs through other means like donations instead of having students do the fundraisers themselves. “I think all of them, nearly all of them, have some tradition that they’ve been an annual type of event where we’ve done that kind of fundraising,” said Selk. “So we did approve them here in this month of September, but going forward, I really want to take a look at our at our fundraising. As I stated in the board meeting tonight, students don’t come to school to fundraise. That’s not their purpose. That’s not what they’ve signed up for, and we have to be very careful that we put too much pressure on them to do fundraising.”
Another change to the fundraising procedure will be having all requests submitted in the spring for approval instead of approving them in the fall after the school year begins.
COMMUNITY EDUCATION VARIANCE
The school board approved a variance request for Selk to serve as the district’s Director of Community Education. The variance is needed since Selk is not currently licensed to hold that position, and the community education director is a required position for districts with a population of 6,000 or more. The position was previously held by Brandon Neibauer-Adams, who resigned from the district in August. “The late resignation put us behind the eight ball a little bit,” said Selk. “Statute requires us to have a community education director because of our district population of over 6,000 people, and that’s something that we want to do, but we also don’t want to hire just to hire. And after the school year started, it’s a really difficult time for us to do that. So we’ll want to look at that in a broader picture of the whole administrative team.”
Selk will serve in the director role, but the duties of the community education department will be delegated out properly for the year until a new director can be hired.
HIGHLAND HANDBOOK REVISION
Highland Elementary School co-principal Greg Garmen submitted a revision to the school’s handbook regarding fidget devices and laser pointers. Garmen told the board that several students have brought items like fidget spinners and cubes with them to school, which has caused distractions in the classrooms. It was established that fidget devices were only allowed in classrooms where teachers approved of their usage, but the revision that was submitted for approval would not allow the use of fidget devices anywhere on school grounds unless it is part of a child’s individual education plan (IEP) or 504 plan. “We scoured the handbook a little closer, and it said basically whatever’s on your teacher’s class list you can bring. If it’s not on there, you can’t bring it, with the exception of fidgets, and that’s up to the teacher or if it’s written into the IEP or 504,” Garmen explained. “We didn’t like how that read because every teacher would be different, and then you have one class in fourth grade that can have them, one class that can’t, and that would lead to nothing but trouble, so we switched it.”
MIDDLE SCHOOL WASHINGTON D.C. TRIP
Crookston Middle School English teacher Sue Wagner and math teacher Steve Kofoed led a presentation to the board showcasing the middle school trip to Washington D.C. held over the summer. The trip has been held in 2024 and 2026 with plans to have another trip in 2028 and beyond. World Classrooms of Aberdeen, SD, conducts the trip, which includes four days of touring museums, exploring the National Mall, visiting government buildings like the White House and the U.S. Capitol, and visiting other historical sites like Mount Vernon. The trip is open to the current sixth and seventh grade students, and a parents informational meeting is scheduled for October. The board approved the trip for 2028, and Selk believes that the trip will give students the rare opportunity to travel to a new location and learn history by experiencing it live. “The World Classrooms trip to Washington D.C. is really a great educational opportunity for our kids,” Selk stated. “They get an opportunity to get on an airplane. They get an opportunity to stay in a hotel in downtown Washington D.C. All life lessons and life learning and life experiences that we just don’t get necessarily here in Northwest Minnesota, so anytime we get a chance to have our kids exposed to some of those things, I think it’s beneficial, and we appreciate the staff members that help organize this trip and the school board’s approval of it.”
During the feature program portion of the meeting, Selk took the time to recognize the Crookston School board as part of School Board Recognition Month and thank them for the tireless work they do to represent the students and parents of the Crookston School District.
The next Crookston School Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 26, at 5:00 p.m. in the large group room at Highland Elementary School.
