Board approves levy with 2% decrease

At the December 15th regular school board meeting, district business manager Elizabeth Beery presented taxation information, issued annually between November 24th and December 30th as required by state law. During her presentation, Beery projected a slide illustrating Waseca’s historical levy amounts in dollars and percentages from the years 2007-2023, highlighting the 2.34% property tax levy decrease for the 2023-2024 school year. The school district’s revenues and expenditures budget for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 was posted on the Waseca Public School website back in November. Beery stated she will also post the Truth in Taxation presentation there as well.

Superintendent Eric Hudspith reported that the administration was getting good feedback from staff regarding the professional development opportunities offered in the district. “We’ve been learning a lot,” Hudspith told the board. “When you have staff with such a variety of expertise, and such a variety of assignments, trying to develop professional development that is applicable to everybody is a challenge. Our team has been doing a fantastic job but we can always get better.”  Hudspith also reiterated the importance of the vision cards each department and building administrator develops in accordance with the district’s strategic plan, and the use of student assessments to plan instruction. “We’re not just using it as a number to assess a student–you did well, you didn’t do well–but how do we use that to create instructional opportunities for kids?” He reminded the board of the upcoming strategic plan refresh process taking place after the start of the new year.

Other items addressed included Director of Teaching & Learning Brooke McGuire’s report on the district’s World’s Best Workforce strategic plan. The World's Best Workforce (WBWF) was developed in 2013 by the state of Minnesota to ensure that school districts and charter schools enhance student achievement through teaching and learning supports. School boards that govern districts and charter schools are required to develop comprehensive, long-term strategic plans that address the five WBWF goals: that all children are ready for school, all third-graders can read at grade level, all racial and economic achievement gaps between students are closed, all students are ready for career and college, and all students graduate from high school. McGuire showed the board a PowerPoint presentation illustrating how the district currently performs as compared to previous years.