MIST's purpose is to provide a comprehensive property/casualty  insurance program for Minnesota public school districts. MIST is founded on several core beliefs:

1. Insurance Pools are member-driven
2. Specific membership criteria and aggressive loss control are elements
3. Buying power and spread of risk are enhanced by pooling
4. Pools offer efficient claims management, resulting in accurate prompt claims payments
5. Pools offer greater control over claims, coverage availability, scope of coverage and competitive pricing through cooperative buying
6. Pools meet the immediate and long term insurance needs of their members better than conventional insurers and provide flexibility of various funding mechanisms and coverages
7. Pools provide efficiently and professionally managed insurance administration for their members