The post-secondary enrollment option program continues to drain money from Ely’s school coffers, but a new deal approved this week may at least soften some of the blow.
Minnesota North College and the Ely School District have come to terms on an agreement that changes how state aid is divided between the two entities.
While the college will still collect the lion’s share of the money generated by high school juniors and seniors who cross town to take classes at Vermilion, the deal reached with the college allows Ely to retain a larger share, according to superintendent Anne Oelke.
“This is a positive, actually, for the district,” said Oelke, just before the board voted 5-0 to approve the deal. “For many years, all of the funding has been going to Minnesota North, and then the state would ask us how many of our students are here, and we would get a percentage. However, you can do a contract with these schools, and we can flip that script.”
Instead of the state aid flowing entirely to Minnesota North, under terms of the deal it will now go to Ely, and the district in turn would pay the college on a per-credit basis.
The net result is a larger portion of the state aid remaining with the Ely district, but Oelke said it was too early to determine the net financial impact of the change. “If you had to pick a number out of the air, what would it be?” asked board member Tony Colarich.
“We should see not as much going out the door for PSEO,” said Oelke. “I’m not going to pick a number today (but) I do think it’s a positive thing moving forward.”
Particularly during the last two years, the impact of PSEO has been a frequent talking point among Ely school officials, who have wrestled with major budget deficits and significant school budget reductions.
More than half of Ely’s juniors and seniors took classes at Vermilion during the 2025-26 school year and that number is expected to grow again this fall.
During the spring, projections indicated that among 85 high school juniors and seniors, 54 would participate in the program in 2026-27, representing 63.5 percent.
Oelke said that college officials were open to changes in the current financial setup and discussions have taken place since the spring.
“Right now Minnesota North has money left on the table so we’re trying to flip that so the money is on our table instead,” said Oelke. “We ultimately are responsible for them. We give them their diploma, their counseling services. They do all of our activities.”
Oelke added that she believed Minnesota North “values our schools surviving... they were super open when we started this conversation.”
In another budget-related matter, school board members accepted more than $200,000 in donations from the Ely Educational Foundation - all announced previously and all designed to help the district balance its budget for 2026-27.
It included $25,000 for fine arts, $29,210 for a Spanish class, $13,370 for a sixthgrade elective, $14,000 for a physical education elective, $12,000 for a music elective, $34,000 for math electives, $19,900 for a Spanish elective, $16,000 for elementary art, and $50,000 for an elementary classroom assistant.
Board member Tom Omerza also reported that the EEF has recently received a significant donation that will fund all items on the newly published “teachers wish list.”
In other business, the board:
• Renewed the contracts of several head coaches, including Louis Gerzin (football), Megan Bialik (volleyball), Jayne Dusich (boys and girls cross country), Ben Johnson (hockey), Tom McDonald (boys basketball), Tomi Cole (girls basketball) and Todd Hohenstein (boys/ girls Nordic skiing);
• Hired several assistant coaches including Jim Wittrup (football), Randi Walker (volleyball), Sarah Spate (boys and girls cross country), Ryan Bush and Steve Holthaus (junior high football) and Maggie Jones (junior high volleyball), and approved numerous volunteer coaches;
• Entered into an agreement with Vermilion Country School, which requires the Tower-based school to pay a prorated portion of the costs of sports that VCS students participate in;
• Approved the third and final reading of model policies related to equal employment opportunity, public and private personnel data, chemical use and abuse, drug-free workplace/school and bullying;
• Approved a resolution calling for the Nov. 3 school board election, when six candidates go for three board positions;
• Raised adult lunch prices from $5 to $5.50 and breakfast from $2.25 to $3, while also increasing the price for “doubles” from $2 to $2.50.
