BLUE EARTH– With both the annual audit report and the annual Truth in Taxation Public Hearing on the agenda at Monday’s Blue Earth Area School Board meeting, board members heard a lot of numbers being presented.

The Truth in Taxation Hearing was one of the first items on the agenda, just after 6 p.m., and the information on the proposed budget and levy was presented by BEA Fiscal Services coordinator Alan Wilhelmi.

Wilhelmi went through the budget numbers and the impact on the levy, but there were no members of the public in attendance at the Truth in Taxation Hearing.

Later in the regular School Board meeting the board set the 2026 tax levy at $3,559,263.47, which is a 3.7 percent increase over the current year.

The audit for 2025 was presented virtually by Sterling Shattuck of CLA auditors.

He said it was a clean audit but he did point out a number of things. Those included the Community Service Fund balance declining, the Debt Service Fund balance is up and the General Fund revenues were down slightly, and the expenditures were up.

Later in the meeting the board approved the audit report.

In other business at the Monday meeting, the School Board:

— Heard reports from superintendent Mandy Fletcher that included information on a series of community meetings planned for continuing to present information on the condition of the facilities (buildings) at BEA.

— Heard reports from five different committees including the BEA Foundation Board which reported on this year’s Buc$ for Bucs fundraiser. Attendance and the funds raised were down a bit from last year.

— Approved a resolution Establishing Combined Polling Places.

— Approved a Future Ready CTE Impact Grant of $21,744.50 that will be used for new equipment for shop classes.

— Approved donations to the BUCC-Y Bags program from Mary Casanova, First Bank Blue Earth and John Lukasic and a donation from Sertoma for a new audiometer in the amount of $1,484.99.

— Approved a donation from Kids in Need Foundation/3M for middle school teachers’ school supply kits.

— Approved several personnel changes including a leave of absence for Larissa Hatfield and Jake Brower, a resignation by Roger Schoenfelder for May 29, 2026, and hiring of Alexis Riviera as a paraprofessional.