Posted: 3/31/04

School budget cast in stone sends bad message

Between now and June 30, officials of ISD 831 must approve a budget for the 2004-2005 school year. It is a budget that will require cuts in the range of $2 million to keep the districtís expenditures in line with revenues.

It is not an easy task for the school board and administration.

There is no questioning the need to make the $2 million budget adjustment. But some are concerned that the budget planning process for 2004-2005 is locked in stone and the outcome will do little to build the public favor this district will need when it next goes to voters seeking an excess operating levy.

The frustration here lies in the budget-cutting plan laid out by the board and administration last fall prior to the excess levy vote. The intent of that plan was clear.

The plan spelled out what the consequences would be if the public rejected the districtís request for excess levy dollars. It is well documented the public did not buy the districtís request for funding and today we face budget cuts.

Please donít buy the argument that the district has to proceed line for line with the cuts that were identified nearly six months ago. And the reason is simple.

The landscape of the districtís budget is far different today than it was six months ago.

The reason? A positive revenue variance of 2 percent that was reported by the district last fall several weeks after the levy vote.

According to district figures, some $400,000 was received under a prior year budget adjustment for increased enrollment. Federal sources of revenue, primarily special education funding, went $235,000 above budget estimates. State special education funding exceeded budget estimates by $550,000.

Thatís a positive swing of $1.19 million that was never factored when the district made its budget cutting plan last fall.

It didnít change the fact that revenues-to-expenditures for the school year to come are still out of line and cuts would be needed, but it did help remove the district from statutory operating debt status two years ahead of schedule.

The budget variance put the district in a position to make adjustments that might just actually make people pleased with their district and less angry.

The ever-changing kindergarten program is one example where some flexibility could have been used to avoid the third change in format in five years.

Instead, weíve heard only of a ìno can changeî attitude to the point where parents are being discouraged and told they canít raise funds to keep specific programs or activities alive.

The message is that a plan was set last fall and the school board would lose face should changes be made.

The school board reportedly will consider a new policy spelling out how parents can raise funds to help support specific school programs. Thatís a start but it is not an action that should require school board initiation.

Again, to be clear, there is no question that cuts must be made, but after some review, could the district not look deeper for cuts that would have less negative impact on classrooms? The loss of 25 teaching positions as planned is a big blow.

Has the district looked in all places where cuts could be made?

Maybe not.

With the Lino Lakes Elementary principal leaving for a job with the new charter school in Forest Lake, could the vacant position be shared, say with the principal at nearby Columbus Elementary or a teaching principal?

The same job-sharing method could apply to neighboring Forest View and Forest Lake elementary schools, and possibly the Montessori Elementary at the Central Learning Center.

Southwest Junior High school has no athletics director today; Century Junior High does. Make the two schools uniform by passing along the duties for both schools to the senior high activities director, a district administrative position, or handle the duties at the building level as Southwest does now.

Could the high school spare one of its two assistant principals? With the buildingís four deans taking on some of the work of principals, it might work.

These are not revolutionary ideas.

Other schools, including neighboring White Bear Lake, are exploring like ideas in efforts to streamline their operations.

Forest Lake is not a district that ranks high in administrative costs but the plan adopted last fall has little if no impact on administrative expense.

Desperate times call for desperate actions.

Some of these cuts could be restored should the districtís financial picture take a positive change. That is exactly what happened to some degree when an excess levy was passed in 2001.

The key for this district is shaping a budget reduction process that will get the job done but yet send some kind of a positive message to the citizens.

The pure fact the district levy vote last November received a smaller level of support than the 2001 levy should send a chill down the backs of all school officials.

There are reasons why the level of public support is waning. It will do no good to blindly blame the public for levy failures even if the frustration level runs high.

Somehow, someway, the district needs to win back its past supporters and convince the many newcomers to the school district that this is a school system that is worthy of the public support that the state wonít provide.

Based on the current economic climate, donít look for any big increases in state funding, thus placing more importance on local taxpayers for school funding.

Gaining the publicís support wonít be accomplished by repeatedly changing the kindergarten program and charging fees for options, by increasing activitiy fees for kids year after year or eliminating programs, like marching band, where there is long standing community tradition and pride.

And it wonít be done with actions that turn off well-meaning citizens and build walls that will be hard to tear down.

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