H-BC School Board agrees to help cover MSHSL COVID deficit

The Hills-Beaver Creek School Board unanimously supported the Minnesota State High School League with an additional payment to help the organization reduce its operating debt.
Board members supported an amount lower than the MSHSL was requesting and passed a resolution stating the lower amount at their Dec. 28 meeting.
“We need to send a message,” said Superintendent Todd Holthaus.
That message, as stated in the resolution, is one of equity among school districts.
In September the MSHSL Finance Task Force sought an additional $2.8 million from member schools.
The extra money will alleviate a budget shortfall from canceled state tournaments in late March caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The task force calculated what each school should pay extra to bolster the organization’s current budget.
Member schools were placed into categories based on high school enrollment and activity classification (AAAA, AAA, AA and A, the smallest schools). No money was sought from home schools or schools with fewer than five high school students
H-BC was asked to pay $4,317 or $28.22 per student.
H-BC, an “A” school, was charged more per student than the highest classified “AAAA” schools, which paid $4.88 per student.
“MSHSL is placing a greater financial burden on smaller classification members schools’ budgets,” the H-BC resolution stated.
Annual MSHSL membership is on a per-pupil basis, which H-BC paid earlier this year.
“MSHSL is not following their own guiding principles nor are they recognizing that its member schools are funded primarily by the amount of pupils we serve,” the resolution stated.
H-BC has 104 high school students.
Instead of $28.22 per student, H-BC based their extra payment on a per-pupil basis model created by a representative at the Springfield School District.
Under the Springfield model each school would pay $11.16 per high school student.
Board members agreed to pay $1,707 based on the Springfield plan.