The Key Takeaway
District 916 is a separate public school district that allows SoWashCo and 12 other member districts to share specialized programs, staff, and facilities. SoWashCo’s financial participation includes membership fees, program-related costs, state-aid adjustments, and a significant share of 916’s facilities funding.
These shared services may provide expertise and scale that would be difficult for one district to reproduce alone. But they remain part of SoWashCo’s educational and financial responsibilities.
Families and taxpayers should be able to understand what services SoWashCo students receive, what the complete arrangement costs, and how SoWashCo’s School Board oversees its participation.
Most families know that South Washington County Schools is Independent School District 833. Fewer may know that SoWashCo also belongs to another public school district: Northeast Metro Intermediate School District 916.
District 916 provides specialized programs and shared services for 13 member school districts in the northeast metropolitan area. These include intensive special education, career and technical education, alternative learning, transition services, and education provided in certain care-and-treatment settings.
SoWashCo is one of 916’s largest members. In at least one publicly reported cost allocation, it pays the largest share.
Understanding this relationship matters because 916 serves SoWashCo students, receives funding connected to SoWashCo, operates specialized facilities, and makes decisions through a separate school board.
What Is an Intermediate School District?
An intermediate school district is a separate public school district created to provide services cooperatively for a group of traditional school districts.
Minnesota law defines an intermediate district as a cooperative program offering integrated services in areas including career and technical education, special education, and other authorized services.
Minnesota has four intermediate school districts. Northeast Metro 916 serves the northeast metropolitan area and currently includes 13 member districts:
- Centennial
- Columbia Heights
- Forest Lake
- Fridley
- Mahtomedi
- Mounds View
- North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale
- Roseville
- South Washington County
- Spring Lake Park
- St. Anthony-New Brighton
- Stillwater
- White Bear Lake
In practical terms, 916 allows these districts to share specialized educators, facilities, and programs that may be difficult or inefficient for every district to operate independently.
It is not a department within SoWashCo. It is its own public school district, with its own administration, employees, schools, budget, policies, and governing board.
You can learn more from Northeast Metro 916 and from Minnesota Statutes Chapter 136D.
What Services Does 916 Provide?
District 916 organizes its student programs into several major areas.
Special Education
916 operates specialized programs for students whose needs may require more intensive staffing, therapeutic supports, specialized facilities, or structured learning environments than their home districts can provide locally.
Its published 2026–27 tuition schedule includes programs at:
- Auditory Oral
- Bellaire Education Center
- Karner Blue Education Center
- Pankalo Education Center
- Project Return
- Quora Education Center
- South Campus
- WELS, or Work Experience Life Skills
Placement in an intermediate district program does not mean that SoWashCo has stopped being involved in a student’s education. The student’s needs, placement, funding, transportation, and progress remain important responsibilities for the resident district.
Career and Technical Education
The 916 Career and Technical Center provides hands-on courses connected to industries and career pathways that may be difficult for each member district to offer independently.
These programs can provide access to specialized equipment, instructors, facilities, and partnerships while allowing students to remain enrolled in their home districts.
Alternative Learning
District 916 also operates alternative education programs for students who may benefit from a different educational setting or instructional model.
Care and Treatment
In certain care-and-treatment settings, 916 serves as the educational provider while students receive other services from a treatment organization.
These programs serve different student populations and are funded differently. They should not be treated as one interchangeable service.
How Is District 916 Governed?
District 916 has its own School Board.
Under Minnesota law, the board must include at least one member from each member school district. Each representative is appointed by that district’s local school board, serves at the pleasure of that board, and may be recalled by a majority vote of the appointing board.
The law also requires intermediate board members to report at least quarterly to their local school boards about the activities of the intermediate district.
This creates two levels of public governance:
- The 916 School Board governs the intermediate district.
- Each member district’s School Board appoints a representative and remains responsible for overseeing its district’s participation.
For SoWashCo residents, that means accountability does not end with the 916 administration. The SoWashCo School Board also has a role in monitoring the services, costs, and decisions associated with membership.
How Is District 916 Paid?
There is no single annual charge that represents the full cost of SoWashCo’s participation.
Funding reaches 916 through several mechanisms.
Membership Fees & Other Costs
District 916 charges each member district a membership fee based on adjusted pupil units, or APU.
For 2026–27, the published rate is $25 per APU.
Because this fee is enrollment-based, larger member districts pay more than smaller districts. This fee supports costs that are shared across the membership rather than assigned entirely through an individual student’s tuition rate.
The 2026–27 tuition and fee schedule is available through 916’s finance documents.
However, total cost cannot be determined from membership size alone. SoWashCo’s cost also depends on how many students participate, which programs they attend, and how much service they receive.
State Special Education Funding Adjustments
Special education funding adds another layer.
When a student is placed by the resident district in an intermediate district program, Minnesota’s special education funding system adjusts state aid between the resident district and the organization providing the services.
For qualifying intermediate district placements, the serving organization receives an adjustment for the unreimbursed special education cost, while the resident district’s state aid is reduced by the corresponding amount.
As a result, some 916 costs may not appear as a conventional payment from SoWashCo to 916. They may instead appear through state aid adjustments.
Minnesota law also allows intermediate districts to recover certain unreimbursed costs, including eligible lease, debt service, and indirect costs, through membership and access fees. See Minnesota Statutes §125A.11 and the Minnesota Department of Education’s special education funding explanation.
Facilities Funding
Member districts also support the facilities used by 916.
On June 25, 2026, the SoWashCo School Board approved its share of Northeast Metro 916’s fiscal year 2028 Long-Term Facilities Maintenance program.
The total 916 LTFM allocation was $600,500. SoWashCo was assigned $116,087, or 19.3 percent, the largest share among the 13 member districts.
The allocation worksheet describes the method as a blended rate using net taxing capacity and a pupil-based measure. SoWashCo’s administrative report states that its share will be levied with taxes payable in 2027.
The allocation among member districts was:
| Member district | FY28 allocation share | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| South Washington County | 19.3% | $116,087 |
| Mounds View | 12.2% | $73,005 |
| North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale | 11.2% | $67,228 |
| Stillwater | 10.1% | $60,434 |
| White Bear Lake | 9.3% | $55,703 |
| Roseville | 7.7% | $46,265 |
| Centennial | 6.5% | $39,095 |
| Forest Lake | 6.4% | $38,271 |
| Spring Lake Park | 6.1% | $36,890 |
| Columbia Heights | 3.6% | $21,507 |
| Mahtomedi | 3.3% | $19,965 |
| Fridley | 2.5% | $15,165 |
| St. Anthony-New Brighton | 1.8% | $10,885 |
The allocation worksheet and SoWashCo administrative report were included with the June 25 meeting materials. The meeting record shows that the Board approved the allocation unanimously.
This is only the facilities-maintenance allocation. It is not SoWashCo’s total cost of participating in 916 or using its programs.
Why Should SoWashCo Families Care?
916 Serves SoWashCo Students
The most important reason is that SoWashCo students attend these programs.
Many of the students served by intermediate districts have needs that require highly specialized staff, facilities, and educational environments. The quality, accessibility, staffing, and stability of those programs can have major consequences for students and their families.
SoWashCo Has a Significant Financial Stake
SoWashCo pays an enrollment-based membership fee, incurs program-related costs, experiences state-aid adjustments, and receives a share of 916 facility costs.
The FY28 LTFM allocation shows the scale of SoWashCo’s participation. Its $116,087 share represents nearly one-fifth of the entire 916 facilities-maintenance allocation.
That does not mean the expense is unnecessary. It means SoWashCo has a substantial interest in understanding how 916 plans, operates, and maintains its facilities.
Costs Depend on More Than Enrollment
SoWashCo’s overall enrollment could decline while its 916-related costs increase.
That could happen if more students require specialized placements, if the intensity of services changes, if tuition rates rise, or if shared facility and administrative costs increase.
Intermediate district expenses therefore should not be treated as a simple per-student cost that will automatically decline with SoWashCo’s total enrollment.
Location Can Affect More Than Tuition
Where services are delivered can affect transportation, travel time, access for families, staffing, and facility needs.
Minnesota’s school finance system recognizes transportation for students with disabilities to buildings, hospitals, treatment centers, and other locations where required services are provided, including locations outside the resident district. See Minnesota Statutes §123B.92.
This article does not attempt to determine whether 916 programs should be delivered differently. It establishes why program locations and facilities can have financial and student consequences beyond the published tuition rate.
What Information Would Provide a More Complete Picture?
The publicly available rate sheets and facilities documents explain how several costs are calculated, but they do not by themselves show SoWashCo’s complete financial relationship with 916.
A fuller public picture would include:
- The number of SoWashCo students served by each 916 program
- SoWashCo’s total 916-related expenditures and aid adjustments
- Membership, tuition, access, transportation, and facility costs reported separately
- Costs retained by SoWashCo while students receive services through 916
- Program capacity and demand
- Student outcomes and service quality measures
- Transportation distances, time, and costs
- The reports provided by SoWashCo’s representative on the 916 School Board
These questions should not begin with an assumption that 916 is too expensive or that SoWashCo should reproduce specialized programs on its own.
The appropriate question is whether the shared arrangement provides effective services for students at a responsible total cost, and whether SoWashCo’s School Board and community receive enough information to evaluate that relationship.
A Shared District Is Still a Public Responsibility
Intermediate districts exist for a practical reason. Specialized educational services can require expertise, staffing, facilities, and scale that individual districts may struggle to provide independently.
Pooling those resources may improve both service quality and efficiency.
But shared responsibility should not mean reduced visibility.
SoWashCo is a major participant in District 916. Its students use 916 programs, its funding helps support the organization, its taxpayers contribute to shared facilities, and its School Board appoints a representative to participate in 916 governance.
That makes District 916 part of SoWashCo’s educational and financial picture, even if most families rarely hear its name.