Minnesota school district facing $900,000 budget shortfall votes to find new superintendent

The school board of a rural district in southwest Minnesota voted this week to search for a new superintendent after revelations of a potential $900,000 budget shortfall and alleged financial irregularities.

The decision came during a tense meeting Monday night where the school board of the Bird Island-Olivia-Lake Lillian (BOLD) school district voted 3-2 to initiate the search process.

Some members of the school board said the community had lost faith in Superintendent Jim Menton, who in March told the board that the district was working with police after allegedly discovering numerous financial irregularities.

“I don’t know how, moving forward with Jim, the community will trust the board,” Board Member Todd Frank said. “Once trust is lost, we’ve lost it.”

The school is facing a budget deficit of potentially $900,000, Frank said, citing a monthly budget report submitted for the meeting.

In March, Menton told the board that the district had discovered concerns about the school’s former business manager’s handling of money.

This included payroll discrepancies and a series of unpaid bills, including a $90,000 charge for landscaping services completed years ago.

Menton did not mention the name of the business manager while addressing the school board.

A search warrant from police in Olivia indicated they were looking for details from a 48-year-old woman who worked at BOLD from May 1, 2021, to Sept. 5, 2024. The woman may have been using school funds to purchase personal items, according to a search warrant described as being connected to a “serious embezzlement/theft allegation,” the warrant said.

The Minnesota Star Tribune generally does not name suspects who have not been charged.

The board’s decision to search for a new superintendent appeared to have surprised Menton, who said he had been given the impression that the board supported him.

“I understand completely, this has been a massive debacle,” Menton said. “People have told me that you need to accept responsibility, and I certainly do.”

He said there were extenuating circumstances he could not discuss for what happened with the school’s finances.

“I’m clearly motivated to fix this,” Menton said.

Menton did not respond to requests for comment. Members of the school board declined to comment or did not respond to phone calls this week.

Menton had spent much of Monday’s meeting detailing budget concerns, confirming that district expenses are outpacing revenue. The deficit of $900,000, he said, represents a worst-case scenario if the school cannot fix its issues.

Addressing the gap, Menton said, might necessitate cuts, with five teaching positions not being filled next year, and the school looking at ways to save on transportation.

Earlier reporting, citing Menton, indicated that much of the school’s budget deficit comes from escalating transportation costs.

Joe Schieffert, founder of Superior Transportation, the company contracted for busing at BOLD, argued that the school was paying them about the same amount as previous years.

“We feel relatively that we were thrown under the bus,” he said at a school board meeting in March.

The school’s financial manager cut the transportation budget by hundreds of thousands of dollars without anyone noticing, Schieffert told the Star Tribune.

“It’s roughly $450,000 that she cut out of the transportation column without any communication with me, the superintendent or the board,” he said. “That should have been a big red flag.”

Menton’s oversight of the school’s finances were what came under fire during Monday’s board meeting.

“Financial items need to be brought to the board in enough detail, and that was not brought to the board in enough detail,” said Frank, who is also the board’s chair. “And now we’re in a situation where we’re about $900,000 in debt.”

But some board members objected to the motion to search for a new superintendent.

“I think Jim should be given the opportunity to fix the position we’re in,” said Greg Peppel at Monday’s meeting. He declined to comment further when reached by phone Wednesday.

The board on Monday did not immediately outline a timeline or process for the superintendent search following the vote.

Menton’s contract is up June 30, the same day that the school’s budget is due. The board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for May 19.