The Minot School Board heard the final reading of the 2024-2025 budget and 2024 tax levy at its regular meeting held Thursday at the Administration Building.

Business manager Laura Dokken said the budget needed to be submitted to the county following the meeting.

Dokken said a request had been made to make videos explaining the district’s budget, but the work required was too demanding despite her agreeing that it would be a good idea. Dokken also replied to a question from the public asking if changes can be made to the budget, explaining that different requests and appropriations can be made throughout the school year with the school board’s approval.

Board member Sabrinna Herrmann moved to accept the final reading of the general fund budget of $129,027,530.82 and tax levy of $34,7348,477.51, which was seconded by board member Bill Irmen.

Board member Scott Louser, also a state senator, asked Dokken if the legislature was able to pass something early by the end of February in the next session addressing taxes and school funding, if that would enable the district to enter negotiations with teachers on the next contract early. Dokken said it could, but that since the North Dakota Century Code sets a March 1 deadline in non-contract years, the competition creates a desire for districts to get contracts out as soon as possible.

“To have that sooner, not just for Minot Public but for the whole state, would be really helpful. It gets difficult, and I think for school boards and teaching staff it would be helpful,” Dokken said.

The board approved the final reading with a unanimous vote.

2023-2024 district audit

An audit performed by accounting firm Brady Martz noted no unusual transactions or difficulties or disagreements with management. However, CPA Mindy Piatz said it did find uncorrected misstatements, management representations and signaled a warning management has not consulted with other auditors.

Piatz assured Irmen the misstatements weren’t a significant concern and didn’t indicate the numbers were materially off to such an extent that an adjustment was necessary. Piatz used CD’s and accrued interest as an example, saying that journal entries didn’t record accrued interest for some items when it should have to satisfy general accounting practices.

“Generally we don’t post them because they’re not going to have a material impact on the financials. But we do need to track them. Let’s say we have that in the CD section and we move it to another area and there’s another difference. If you add all those differences up, they could be material to the financials,” Piatz said.

The audit found there was a material weakness in how entries in the general ledger accounts were entered, resulting in an adjustment entry to the financial statements for Head Start to properly reflect the financial statements.

The audit said the district’s internal controls have not been designed to address the specific training needs of its staff to identify adjustments in accordance with generally accepted accounting practices.

The audit recommended the district’s accounting personnel determine the proper balance in each general ledger account prior to the audit. According to the audit, the district will review its year-end process for adjusting entries to ensure the entries are completed properly.

The audit also found a significant deficiency in the preparation of financial statements and the schedule of expenditures of federal awards. While the district’s personnel were found to prepare periodic financial information for internal use that meets the needs of the management and the board, the audit stated the district does not prepare financial statements which include disclosures. The audit warned this could increase the risk of material misstatement in the district’s financial statements, and advised the district to consider preparing them in the future. However, the audit noted the school board has decided to accept the degree of risk associated with the practice due to the time and expense necessary to have staff prepare the statements prior to the audit.

The audit also highlighted the district’s decrease in student enrollment, which will directly impact its revenue from state funding. Other items the audit cited as future concerns included technology, energy costs and costs associated with special education and health insurance which continue to consume large portions of the local budget. While the district has experienced positive growth in total taxable valuation, and the district’s fund reserves remain strong, the audit stated substantial increases should not be expected or counted on, and reserves could be strained should the need to deficit spend continue.

The board unanimously approved the acceptance of the audit.

Construction update

Mark Ulrich, project manager with Kraus-Anderson, delivered the latest update on the final touches being made on the Minot North High school remodel and addition, which is primarily focused on completing the theater and aquatics complex. Ulrich said painting is taking place on the perimeter walls of the theater space, with the rigging, catwalks and wrapping of the stage set to finish next week. Work on the stage floor will start at the end of October, and seating installation will occur in November.

Installation of the pool membrane has started, which Ulrich said was one of the biggest milestones they’ve reached in the last few weeks. This will soon be followed by the installation of pool accessories like the bulkhead and anchors for the starting block. Additional work is ongoing for duct installation, lighting, sound panels and painting in the mezzanine area. Ulrich said the pool will be filled sometime in the middle of November.

Punch lists and other post occupancy items being worked on when students aren’t present include installation of roof coping. Urlich said they’re waiting for the delivery of material from out of state, but will move quickly once they are in hand. Ulrich said weeding and seeding issues are being addressed with assistance from North Dakota State University for a written directive to a subcontractor to correct quality issues. Additional post occupancy items are being compiled by Principal Harlan Johnson and Minot North staff and will be addressed on a daily basis as they come up.

Council member Scott Louser asked Ulrich how long Kraus-Anderson would be responsible for fixing items like toilets, and Ulrich said they would handle such issues for the next calendar year.

Council member Sabrina Herrmann enquired how many trained professionals would be required to operate the systems and components of the theater, and Ulrich said there would be training offered for any staff that are interested in using it. Superintendent Scott Faul said several individuals would be trained to ensure that those requesting to rent or use the space in order for the district to satisfy aspects of rental agreements requiring that trained operators be made available.

Herrmann also asked a question regarding seating and concrete that was removed as value engineering decision, and business manager Laura Dokken said this had been taken into account, and the contract would be evaluated to determine if placing those items was still in the budget.

“What do we need to be purchasing in our local budget so we can use the space properly. When can we bring back the aluminum seating or is that something that’s fundraised differently? We have a list, some of the things that were value engineered out of the school in general. We’re actually talking about that Monday so we can make sure the pool is ready to go,” Dokken said.