District levy rise is below 1 percent

The Esko schools superintendent had good news for taxpayers Monday.

Superintendent Aaron Fischer told school board members the maximum levy for the Esko district would be an increase of only 0.77 of 1 percent. “And that means … you will have an under-1-percent levy increase for the taxpayers,” he said. After the meeting, Fischer explained the almost-zero increase was due to loans that were paid off and, “we just didn’t add a lot onto the new debt,” he said.

The total planned levy will be around $2.3 million from district taxpayers. Local governments set a maximum levy for 2025 at this time of the year and finalize the figure in December. The December amount can be lower but never higher than the amount set in September. Unlike with cities and counties, school district maximum levies are set by the state and can never be higher than an amount set in St. Paul for each school district.

There was further good news on the budget. Enrollment numbers are stable.

“We ended at 1273 [students] last year … and we’ll be at 1272 [this year],” Fischer said. While most area schools are experiencing declining numbers in resident students, Esko has “had the good fortune over the years that we pick up open-enrollment kids,” he said.

Fischer reminded the board that the enrollment numbers are only a budgetary planning tool. They could change, but preliminary figures are important because most of a district’s revenues come from enrollment on a per-pupil basis with increased weighting for some students. “High school kids are worth more state funding than an elementary [child],” Fischer said.

Entrepreneurship on deck

High school principal Greg Hexum told the board about the new class aimed at starting and running a business. Integral to the course will be the new coffee shop being planned for the shared learning space connected with the newly opened fitness center. The coffee shop will have to wait till the shared learning space is completed. The facility is awaiting fixtures which are on backorder.

Hexum pointed out that the coffee shop is only a part of the curriculum.

“Each student in this class will be developing a business plan of their own that is not the coffee shop,” he said. “The coffee shop is their learning project of running a business.”

Teachers Deb DeArmond and Corey Gray will direct the class. Hexum predicted about 20 students for the first session. The coffee shop portion of the course will be open from about 7:45 a.m. to 9 a.m., run completely by students. It will be a nonprofit, and students will not be compensated except for the experience of running a business firsthand.

“It’s amazing how many kids start their businesses while they’re in school and after they get out,” board chairman Jerry Frederick said. He has a son who helps run his own business. “He would have loved something like that.”