The Cannon Falls School Board held its regularly scheduled-meeting Monday, Sept. 22, following the operational levy community meeting in the middle/high school auditorium and that meeting focused on last spring’s Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) results.
Elementary Principal Steven Strauss gave a brief presentation on the results. He reported that while the science testing results were not yet available, the Cannon Falls school district saw an almost five percentage point increase in reading (50.1 to 54.6) proficiency for grades 3-8 and 10th grade. The district saw a slight decrease in math proficiency (51.4 to 50.9) for grades 3-8 and 11th grade. Strauss added that students who opt out of the MCAs are not included, individual student results will go out soon and more info can be found on the Minnesota Department of Education’s (MDE) Report Card website.
Strauss compared Cannon Falls to neighboring districts after going through the raw numbers. Those districts were Randolph, Hastings, Red Wing, Kenyon-Wanamingo, Goodhue and Northfield. Cannon Falls’ reading scores were higher than the state average and ahead of all the area schools except Goodhue (slightly behind) and Northfield. Cannon Falls outperformed the state average and all the area schools listed above in math.
The trend for the district for percent proficient in math over the last five years is: 45.0 in 2021, 48.9 in 2022, 53.5 in 2023, 51.4 in 2024 and 50.9 in 2025. The trend for reading is 57.6 in 2021, 53.9 in 2022, 52.3 in 2023, 50.1 in 2024 and 54.6 in 2025. There was a little discussion between Strauss and the board about how much the learning losses during COVID are still affecting grade levels and their scores.
Strauss also briefly talked about some other testing metrics for Cannon Falls. The district’s ACT composite average for the class of 2024 (ACT scores are always a year behind) was 20.35 compared to the 20.55 state average. Middle/High School Principal Tim Hodges said that after COVID, many post-secondary institutions stopped using the ACT for admissions but continued to use it for financial aid/scholarships. He said when that happened, ACT participation started to drop. Out of the 80-some kids who graduated last year, Hodges said somewhere in the 50s took the ACT when in the past that number would have been much higher.
Sixty-nine students took 82 Advanced Placement (AP) exams last year and 54 of those test results were a score of three or higher (out of five). Usually colleges/universities require a three or a four to receive college credit. Forty-six students received at least one score three or higher.
Quick hits
The Cannon Falls City Council approved the city’s preliminary budget and levy during its Tuesday, Sept. 16 meeting. City Administrator Jon Radermacher gave a detailed presentation to the council and everyone else present. The public hearing for the final levy will be held on Dec. 16.
The preliminary levy is $3,972,000, a 10.8% increase from 2025’s levy. Radermacher said many of the communities he surveyed are expecting double-digit levy increases from last year. His full PowerPoint presentation can be found in the meeting’s agenda on the city’s website.
That total is made up of $3,022,600 for the general fund, $463,500 for the library, $242,700 for the fire department, $100,000 for the EDA, $241,700 for the bond levy and $2,500 for tax abatement.
Radermacher said the city is in a strong financial position during his presentation with adequate reserves in their funds, either meeting or exceeding the city’s cash reserve policies. He also said the city’s existing debt is in a good position at an outstanding $5.4 million principal compared to almost $30 million 20 years ago. He also added that the city was able to pay cash for some of its recent projects.
Radermacher then looked forward and said the city’s upcoming capital equipment needs – things like fire trucks, ambulances, snow plows, etc – are going to be expensive. He said areas of uncertainty in the future for the city are ambulance funding and facility maintenance, replacement and renovation.
According to his presentation, the wastewater treatment plant is 25 years old with a typical lifespan of 30 years and will need work; city hall will need a new air conditioning system at some point in the future; the Public Safety Building is 20 years old and needs maintenance; the city pool is seeing more cracking and needs new equipment; the city-owned trails have sections in poor condition; the north water storage reservoir needs attention outside of the proposed new water tower in the technology park; and finally the city needs to develop a new long-term street and infrastructure plan as it is finishing up its current 10-year plan.
The preliminary budget levy needed to be set by Sept. 30 and whatever it was set at, it then cannot be adjusted higher. However, it can be adjusted lower if the city wants. Radermacher said his policy in the past has been to set the preliminary levy a little higher than they anticipate going to give themselves some wiggle room and then adjust to the final levy which is set in December. He added that they are not proposing any significant changes, increases or decreases, in rates for the enterprise funds which consists of things like water, wastewater, storm water and ambulance.
The next city council meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 7. The next planning commission meeting is Monday, Oct. 13, where the commission will discuss the remaining data center items that were tabled and continued at the Sept. 8 meeting.