School Board approves 2024-25 levy

SHELL LAKE — The Shell Lake School Board adopted the tax levy and presented the 2024-25 budget at its annual meeting Monday, Sept. 23.

The presented district budget is preliminary based on information available as of that day and reflects a continued commitment to upholding the tradition of excellence and fiscal responsibility, said Supt. Todd Felhofer, and it is a deficit budget. The deficit projection from this year goes from just over $500,000,

The total school levy for 2024-25 is set at $5,856,118, with an estimated mill rate of $7.48. Felhofer said because Summer School gained the district a few more students, the mill rate went up by about 2 cents.

“The district has been very frugal over the years in doing things the right way,” he said.

The final numbers will be ready in mid-October, so “this is our best projection at this point,” he added.

Though enrollment is declining, Felhofer said they are “not falling off the cliff.”

The Fund Balance has been used the last three years to balance the budget, he noted, and the district continues to work to provide competitive wages and benefits.

The tax levy was adopted as presented.

Referendum

The district has a four-year, non-recurring operational referendum on the Nov. 5 election ballot. The referendum is needed because revenue limits and general state aids have not kept up with the rising costs of operating a school district. The 2023-24 revenue limit was $6.40 million.

“We have used the fund balance to balance the budget,” Felhofer said, but this is not sustainable long-term.

The money per year for the referendum is as follows:

2025-26: $650,0002026-27: $935,0002027-28: $1.2 million2028-29: $1, 475,000

The money will be used to:

Maintain academic programs and extracurricular opportunities for students.Provide instructional materials and resources.Recruit and retain staff.General maintenance and repair.Maintain an adequate fund balance.

“We’ve got some great programs for our kids,” Felhofer said.

There will be two informational meetings for the public on the referendum on Wednesday, Oct. 16, and Monday, Oct. 28, both at 6 p.m. at the school.

State of the District

During his State of the District Report, Felhofer said, “We continue to have a good number of students who are earning college credits.”

The district has a strong partnership with Northwood Technical College, which did a math course with the school last year. There is an increasing number of students earning college credit through Advanced Placement classes, Early College Credit and Start College Now.

The district continues to focus on reading and math achievement in all grades. Last year, “40 to 50 percent of the kids were getting Ds and Fs,” said Felhofer.

Last year, they got the numbers down to about 20%.

The district’s priorities are “always student learning and achievement,” he said.

Other action

The board also approved the School Board members salaries, which will remain the same as last year; heard a presentation about a pow wow at the school on Nov. 15 in honor of Native American Heritage Month; and set the next annual meeting for Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, at 7 p.m. at the school.