Independent School District #535 School Board Packet Summary — August 18, 2026
The Independent School District #535 School Board is scheduled for a regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. on August 18, 2026, in Room 137 of the Edison Administration Building in Rochester. The agenda includes a new Office of Learning Environments, the Board’s proposed annual work calendar, 2027 meeting dates, committee assignments, July financial reports and a closed session for the superintendent’s annual leadership evaluation.
Key Items on the Agenda
Launching the Office of Learning Environments
The Board is scheduled to receive a focus-topic presentation introducing the Office of Learning Environments. The packet describes the office as an effort to bring previously separate programs into a more coherent system focused on students feeling safe, welcomed, connected, supported and engaged in learning.
The presentation is expected to cover the office’s purpose and emerging direction, lessons from its initial work, a review of 2025-26 student attendance data and priorities for the 2026-27 school year.
2026-2027 Annual Board Calendar
The Board is scheduled to consider approval of the 2026-2027 Annual Board Calendar Draft, or ABCD, which serves as the Board’s primary planning tool for organizing major work across the school year. The Executive Committee developed the proposal and presented its major agenda items for Board review on August 4.
The proposed calendar organizes work across action, monitoring, strategic discussion, public engagement and recognition. It also builds an annual cycle around RPS 2030, including strategic-plan work, performance measures, School Continuous Improvement Plans and updates on systems and change projects.
The packet emphasizes that the ABCD would remain a living planning document. Meeting dates and topics could be added, rescheduled or adjusted as district priorities, legal or policy requirements, data-release schedules and other circumstances change.
2027 School Board Meeting Dates
The agenda also calls for action on updated School Board meeting dates, times and locations for 2027. The recommendation is for the Board to approve the schedule provided with the packet.
The attached calendar generally schedules regular meetings at 5:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of the month, with exceptions in the proposed annual schedule.
School Board Committee Assignments
Committee assignments for the 2026-27 school year are scheduled for review under the Board’s monitoring agenda. Policy 213 gives the Board Chair responsibility for appointing members of standing or ad hoc committees, while community advisory assignments are based on Board member preferences.
The packet says assignments are reviewed twice each year — after the January Board reorganization and again during the summer before the school year begins. The August 18 agenda anticipates discussion of the 2026-27 assignments so the Board Chair can make appointments.
Major Financial Items
More Than $33 Million in July Payments
The consent agenda includes July 2026 district bills. The Finance Department recommends approval of $33,120,453.49 in checks, wire transfers and ACH payments, along with a $92,500.46 U.S. Bank purchase-card payment.
The district-bills report breaks the $33.12 million total across multiple funds, including:
- $16,201,900.25 from the General Fund.
- $6,596,106.03 from the Building Construction Fund.
- $4,920,856.90 from the Debt Service Fund.
- $3,465,549.49 from the Health Trust Fund.
- $934,206.79 from the Community Service Fund.
- $371,567.08 from the Food Service Fund.
The packet notes that check, wire-transfer and ACH reports have been consolidated following the district’s migration to Skyward Qmlativ.
July Financial Reports
The Board is also scheduled to consider July 2026 financial reports as part of the consent agenda. Across all district funds, year-to-date revenue through July was $5,000,585, or 1.05% of the annual budget, while expenditures totaled $16,240,060, or 3.36% of the annual budget.
For the General Fund, the packet reports year-to-date revenue of -$13,901 and expenditures of $6,151,279, representing 1.91% of the annual expenditure budget. The financial reporting package includes month-to-date and year-to-date revenue and expense comparisons.
Investments and Investment Income
The consent agenda includes the district’s July investment reports. The monthly investment analysis reports $243,399.20 in FY27 interest income across the funds shown in the summary and an FY27 interest-income budget of $4,576,543.
The same summary reports a combined FY27 unrealized loss of $423,477.10 across the listed funds. The underlying investment detail includes certificates of deposit, government and municipal bonds, U.S. Treasury securities, federal agency securities, cash equivalents and the district’s OPEB Trust investments.
Gifts and Donations
The Board is scheduled to consider accepting $14,825.75 in gifts and donations received during July 2026 under Policy 706 and Minnesota Statute 465.03.
The packet identifies $13,714.75 in monetary donations and $1,111 in student-activities donations. Listed contributions include $10,000 from United Way for Building Bridges, $2,525.54 from SELCO for media at Dakota, and smaller contributions supporting robotics, softball, Eagle Bluff, Model UN and a fall dance.
Workers' Compensation Payments
The consent agenda also includes a recommendation to approve $48,395.79 in July checks from the Workers’ Compensation Self-Insurance Checking Account. The Manager of Employee Services reviewed the register and recommends approval.
Personnel and Employee Policies
2026-2027 Employee Handbook
District administration has prepared an abridged Employee Handbook covering staff supports, general information, requirements and legal guidance. The packet says all staff are required to review the handbook annually and describes the 2026-27 edition as containing a few minor revisions and additions from the previous version.
Approval of the 2026-27 handbook is included on the consent agenda.
Human Resources Actions
A substantial package of personnel actions is also on the consent agenda. It includes new employment, temporary employment, changes in employment, retirements, resignations and terminations across district schools and programs.
The personnel report includes numerous temporary teaching assignments running from August 17, 2026, through June 4, 2027, as well as permanent instructional, support, administrative, facilities, food-service and student-services positions.
The regular-meeting agenda provides an opportunity for community members to comment directly to the Board on matters within its authority. Comments are limited to three minutes per person and, according to the packet, are not livestreamed or recorded for later viewing.
Speakers must submit the district’s online Request to Provide Comments to the Board form by 5:00 p.m. on the Monday before the meeting. The packet references Board Policy 206 and Procedure 206A governing public participation and comments.
Closed Session
The agenda includes a closed session for the scheduled annual 2025-26 Superintendent Leadership Evaluation. The packet cites Minnesota Statutes section 13D.05 as authority for closing the session to conduct a confidential performance-evaluation discussion.
The packet states that the Board is scheduled to summarize its conclusions regarding the leadership evaluation at the September 1 regular meeting.
What to Watch at the Meeting
- Office of Learning Environments: The presentation is expected to connect the new office’s emerging work with student attendance, school climate and priorities for 2026-27.
- Annual governance calendar: The proposed ABCD would establish when major strategic, financial, academic and governance topics return to the Board throughout 2026-27 while remaining subject to revision.
- Committee assignments: The Board is expected to review 2026-27 committee assignments before appointments are made by the Board Chair.
- 2027 meeting schedule: Updated dates, times and locations are presented for Board approval.
- September property-tax item: The packet’s upcoming-agenda materials identify approval of the proposed school district property tax payable in 2027 as an item being prepared for the September 1 regular meeting.
- Upcoming meetings: The packet lists a 5:30 p.m. study session on August 25, followed by regular meetings at 5:30 p.m. September 1, September 15 and October 6, 2026.
