Wrenshall reaches out to Carlton

Wrenshall school board members voted unanimously Tuesday to write and deliver a letter to the Carlton school board posthaste, indicating Wrenshall's desire to continue with consolidation talks after news broke last month that the Carlton superintendent and board chair had initiated merger talks with Barnum.

Short and to the point, the letter adopted by the board stated:

Dear Carlton School Board.

We are ready to meet to discuss consolidation between Wrenshall and Carlton when you are.

Raptors Strong.

Your Neighbors,

The Wrenshall School Board

Board members all signed the letter dated Nov. 12, and planned to both email and physically deliver it Wednesday, in plenty of time for next Monday's regular Carlton school board meeting.

Regarding the news about Barnum last month, board chairwoman Mary Carlson said there was a bright side: "I feel like this whole situation has really actually been a positive because it has started a relationship with Barnum, which is a neighbor that I didn't know before."

Wrenshall and Carlton have been engaged in the most recent round of consolidation talks for close to two years, and the two school districts formed a cooperative for all sports and activities in 2022, although the first joint Raptors teams began competing in 2019.

The latest letter marks a resumption of formal communications between the two districts.

The last less formal email came from Carlton in June, when superintendent Donita Stepan wrote that the Carlton board would be taking some time "to reevaluate the process," telling Wrenshall superintendent Jeff Pesta: "We'll be in touch sometime next fall," after Wrenshall sent a letter asking to reschedule a proposed joint board meeting.

Meanwhile, at a committee of the whole meeting 2 miles away in Carlton, board members were listening to a presentation on consolidation by Stepan comparing consolidation with Wrenshall versus Barnum. Stepan favored Barnum for its higher student numbers and stronger financial position, characterizing both Wrenshall and Carlton as districts "who struggle financially."

While that was true for Wrenshall's 2022-23 school year - a low point - a 2023-24 audit report at Tuesday's Wrenshall board meeting showed a continued financial turnaround in Wrenshall. The positive news follows two years of belt-tightening and long board meetings, but the result is the highest unrestricted fund balance in at least five years, at $363,074, or 7 percent of an almost $5.35 million budget.

After budgeting conservatively for the 2023-24 school year, Wrenshall grew its overall general fund balance by $314,759, to $471,119 from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, according to the Wipfli report. Auditor and Wipfli partner Rob Ganschow said that gives Wrenshall a month's worth of expenses. He suggested two months' worth of expenses would be great.

Other funds also showed increases over what was budgeted, including food services - which was budgeted at a loss but showed an excess of $40,190 - and community education, which saw its fund balance grow to nearly $30,000. The debt service fund also increased by $28,562.

Ganschow noted that Wipfli found no financial statement or legal compliance issues, and offered clean opinions on the audit. "Kudos to district management and specifically Beth [Peterson, assistant business manager]," Ganschow said.

Board members were thrilled with the audit. "Is it real?" asked Misty Bergman.

Board member Eric Ankrum wanted to know if the audit report could be laminated and hung on the wall, an idea chairwoman Carlson repeated to the 10 or so people gathered in the school library Tuesday.

In addition to cutting costs - something Carlson said staff did districtwide in addition to board cuts - Wrenshall has seen its enrollment grow and appear to stabilize.

Wrenshall's half-time superintendent Jeff Pesta said enrollment was initially budgeted at 315 students for this school year, but Wrenshall now has 345 students, a number that has held steady for the first quarter.

"That's really what potentially can have you moving from a minimal unassigned fund balance to the gold standard," Pesta said.

Carlson pointed out that including prekindergarten programs, Wrenshall now has 371 students.

"I think that's a really exciting number to hear when we include the kids that are coming up and through the program," she said.

In other matters Tuesday:

-The board canvassed election results. Three new board members were elected: Ashley Laveau with 949 votes, Erin Riley with 793 and Jon Beck with 772. There were 47 write-in votes. The new board members will take their seats in January.

- Board members approved the purchase of a new propane-fueled bus at a maximum cost of $151,000, with $35,000 covered by an EPA grant. "This will also allow us to continue with our own fleet," Carlson said, noting that the purchase will not increase the tax levy.

-New American Indian cultural liaison Kevin Kot shared a number of ideas for future events and cultural teachings with the board. One that requires some community participation will be making maple syrup, referred to as "sugarbush" in the Ojibwe culture. They are looking for someplace close to the school to tap at least 10 sugar maple trees, Kot said. He also detailed plans for indigenous games in physical education classes, making snow snakes, providing a library of books authored by Native American authors, beading, bilingual signage and possibly a large mural at the school.