The Northfield School District began the budgeting process for the 2024-2025 school year on Monday night, when the School Board heard a presentation on the district’s Capital Operating Budget.
Northfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matt Hillmann said over the next several meetings the board will hear presentations regarding all of the budgets managed by the school district. Because the Capital Operating Budget deals with facilities maintenance and capital equipment purchases, it is always the first thing the School Board is asked to approve each year. Many of the budgeted projects have to happen during the summer break, and Hillmann said there has to be time to sign contracts and order what is necessary so things can get underway as soon as school is over for the year.
“It’s really a short time, if you think about it, from the last day of school to the first day of school. And so, we really want our buildings and grounds team, our curriculum folks, the people in the Technology Department to have as much runway as they can. They need time to get equipment and the other kinds of things they’re going to be upgrading over the summer ordered or arranged, so right when school ends so they can get everything up and rolling and finished before school starts again.”
Hillmann said the budget is in good shape right now. A levy that was passed by the voters in 2022 is starting to bring more funds into capital operations, so the district will be able to do things like replace a pair of aging pickup trucks that are also used as snowplows, buy a gym curtain for Spring Creek Elementary School, and put up a sign outside of Bridgewater Elementary School to help direct traffic.
The budget, he said, is actually funded by four separate components. The operating funds that the district receives from the State of Minnesota, the Lease Levy, the aforementioned Capital Projects Levy, and the Long Term Facilities Maintenance Budget, which is something that was created by a teacher at Northfield High School.
“And long-term facilities maintenance revenue is a stream of funding that school districts get from the state. That’s a bill that was written right here in Northfield. Senator Kevin Dahle, one of our High School social studies teachers. When Kevin was in the Senate, he was the chief author of this bill.”
Hillmann said that fund will pay for things like tuck pointing at Bridgewater Elementary, a new public address system at Spring Creek, resurfacing the Middle School Swimming Pool, resurfacing parking lots, and replacing bathroom fixtures. Hillmann acknowledged that none of these projects are very exciting, but he said they are good examples of how the school district tries to take care of the facilities the taxpayers of the district have provided.
The School Board will vote to approve the Capital Operations Budget at their next meeting on February 26th.
Open house discussion will cover housing options, specifics on modular housing
The City of Northfield will host an open house at the end of the month to present a proposed housing development featuring modular housing in a coop neighborhood to the Northfield community.
The city has entered into an agreement with the Northcountry Cooperative Foundation to study the idea of creating the neighborhood on approximately 7 acres of undeveloped land in the southeast part of the city, in order to address the need for what is known as “Workforce Housing,” or homes that would be available in the range of $200,000-$300,000.
Staff from the City of Northfield Community Development department will provide general housing information from national, regional, county and city perspectives and information on what the Northfield Housing and Redevelopment Authority can do. Staff from Northcountry Cooperative Foundation will provide information about manufactured homes, housing cooperatives, and their services.
Attendees will hear presentations and then participate in facilitated conversations. The HRA will review the Northcountry Cooperative’s findings in the spring, taking feedback from this meeting into consideration.
To allow more people to participate, Spanish interpreters, snacks, and kid-friendly activities will be available; however, there will be no childcare.
The meeting is scheduled for February 29th from 5 to 7pm in the lower cafeteria of the Northfield high school. For more information visit the City of Northfield website at northfielmn.gov.
Wang gets Karate Kid role based on audition, martial arts and language skills
A Northfield High School graduate has been cast as the next Karate Kid.
According to several different sources, including The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and the Minneapolis StarTribune, Ben Wang was selected from a vast pool of international actors to star in the next installment of the Karate Kid movie series. The Hollywood Reporter said Wang’s audition showed how well he understands the character that he will play. It also helped that he is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and is skilled across many forms of martial arts.
The Karate Kid has been a highly successful movie franchise since the original film debuted in 1984. There have been several sequels over the years featuring stars like Pat Morita, Elizabeth Shue, Hilary Swank, and Jackie Chan. There has also been a Netflix television series, Kobra Kai, which updated characters from the original movie. Reports say that Ralph Macchio, the star of the forty-year-old film, will reprise his role as Daniel LaRusso. Chan is also reported to be a part of the film’s cast in the role of Mr. Han, a Kung Fu master from the 2010 reboot. The film will be directed by Jonathan Entwistle,
After Immigrating to Northfield from China with his parents when he was six years old, Wang graduated from Northfield High School in 2016 and then attended the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. After spots in television shows like MacGyver and The Last OG, he landed the role of Jin Wang in the Disney+ series American Born Chinese opposite Academy Award winning actress Michelle Yeoh. In October, he debuted a film that he wrote, directed and filmed entirely in Northfield called Happy New Year, Jamie Morgenstern at the New York Short Film Festival and the Twin Cities Film Fest.
Wang has also participated in the Northfield Shares an Evening of Entertainment events, with his music video about Northfield’s former Mr. Movies location.
Sony Pictures has slated the film’s release in theaters for December 13th.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
