Taxpayers in ISD 2142 will see about a 25-percent reduction in school taxes overall as a result of the levy approved Monday by the St. Louis County School Board.

Although the district levied the maximum allowable, taxes will drop by $387,000 from the previous year because the school isn’t seeking as many dollars for Health and Safety projects in the coming year. The levy, payable in 2010, will collect $1.166 million compared to $1.55 million collected in 2009.

Residents will have a chance to give their opinions on the school levy at the regular board meeting on Dec. 15. Due to a change in state law, districts are no longer required to hold Truth-In-Taxation hearings but still must give citizens an opportunity to comment on the levy. As result, the district canceled plans for a Truth-In-Taxation hearing on Dec. 8.

In other business Monday, the board:

• Moved the date for a vote on a $78.8 million bond issue from Nov. 3 to Dec. 8 to allow adequate time for legal notification of the referendum. The district is awaiting word from the state Department of Education, which is in the process of reviewing the proposed plan for restructuring the district. The department’s finding will determine whether a vote can proceed and whether a simple majority or just over 60 percent of the voters must approve the bond issue for its passage.

• Renewed a concurrent enrollment contract with Mesabi Range Community and Technical College at Virginia. The fee remains $1,400 for each course offered during a semester.

• Approved payment of $78,680 for on-site wetland delineation and other services on properties selected as potential sites for two new schools located in the north and south sections of the district.

• Approved additional hours for Cotton teacher aide Connie Lippett and Cotton ITV teaching assistant Jessica Kudis.

• Hired probationary teachers Rebecca Moore and Amanda Leppala. Both are business teachers at Cotton.

• Heard a report from Babbitt-Embarrass Principal Gary Friedlieb on new programs offered in the district. According to Friedlieb, B-E offers 18 semester college courses for juniors and seniors. Courses cover a wide range of fields include printing and publishing, forest field skills, accounting, masonry and carpentry, and industrial maintenance. In addition, college-level courses in algebra and trigonometry, history and biology are available. Students taking the classes earn both high school and college credits.

B-E was able to acquire $109,806 from the Applied Learning Institute fund to support the programs, Friedlieb added. He credited the work of faculty members Mike Summers, Ellen Pierce and Darilyn Ronn and the support of Superintendent Rick for helping to obtain the funds.

• Heard from former board member Roland “Charlie” Fowler and Kristine Mecka, who urged the board to get more information out to the public about the proposed district restructuring and the consequences should the bond issue fail.