Henning School receives positive outlook on school finances
News | Published on February 25, 2025 at 12:00pm EST | Author: henningmaster
0By Chad Koenen
Publisher
Freshwater Education District’s Jordan Anderson, who is working on a contract basis at the Henning School District as its business manager, gave the Henning School Board an in-depth look at what he hopes to accomplish at the school district over the next few months.
During its regularly scheduled meeting last Tuesday night, Anderson walked the school board through its financial reports and how he would like the school district to move forward to make better-use of taxpayer dollars in future months and years.
Anderson said the school district maintains a healthy fund balance, but its assigned fund balances remain quite high in certain areas. He said he would like the school district to spend those dollars on the specified projects that they are intended for prior to spending down its unassigned fund balance. He said that will give the school district more flexibility for future spending since the unassigned fund balance can be used to operate the school on a day-to-day basis.
“A lot of work to be done on fund balances and making sure they get spent the right way,” he said of his initial work with the school district.
Anderson has also spent quite a bit of time working on some of the items the school district was flagged for during its recent audit report, which highlighted questions regarding payroll liabilities. He said he has cleared up and addressed most of the issues, with the exception of questions about the health insurance liabilities which he continues to work on.
During his presentation to the board, Anderson highlighted how the school district maintains a positive fund balance and stressed he will work with the school district to spend taxpayer dollars in the best way for the students, staff and school district as a whole.
In other news
• Approved the 2025-26 school calendar that shows the first day of school will be Tuesday, Sept. 2, which is the day after Labor Day, while the last day of school will be Thursday, May 21. Graduation will be held on Friday, May 22, 2026 at 7 p.m. There will be 170 student days and 180 teacher days as part of next year’s school calendar. There was also just one half day on next year’s school calendar, which will be the last day of school.
• Heard that Teigan Bjerke won the sub-section AAA award. He was recognized at a banquet at Thumper Pond on February 5. The boys winner from the section was from Morris and the female winner was from Sebeka.
• Heard that the enrollment has held steady at 356 students in grades K-12 and a total of 398 students in grades prek-12 for the month of February.
• Heard that the school district is exploring the possibility of offering Early Childhood Education courses to students at Henning School on-site through a partnership with M-State. The program would allow students to take up to four courses over two years, providing experience and potential career pathways in early childhood education. A grant is available to cover the cost of next year’s courses.
• Heard Henning Principal Thomas Williams is starting a new round table session where students can come and talk about issues they are facing in a more laid back atmosphere. There have also been meetings with staff and a parents round table recently as well. He said the idea is to have open dialogue where students and community members can come together to discuss topics about the school.
• Heard an update on the student participation as part of the softball field renovation project. Several Henning School students and community members have been working on the details for everything from future maintenance, color schemes, fundraising and bleachers.