Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Itís far from a bluff and it will happen if a school levy renewal fails at the ballot box this November.

Some may see them as threats, but ISD 831 officials went on record last Thursday night adopting a series of proposed cuts for the 2007-2008 school year that would trim some $6.5 million in spending. The proposed cuts represent about 10 percent of the general fund.

The cuts will be necessary, the board said, if voters donít approve a renewal of the current operating levy this fall. The board is asking voters to approve the levy renewal at $6.5 million and grant approval of a second levy for $1.4 million to address student achievement.

Both levies will be for five years. The $6.5 million question must pass in order for the second question to be approved.

No time to wait

In approving the potential budget cuts last week, the board agreed there was no more time to waste in the planning process.

The cuts will hit deep into staff ranks. As many as 86 total teaching positions and well over 140 jobs would be eliminated as part of the spending reduction plan.

The plan also calls for the closing of one elementary school, the closing of the district swimming pool and major changes in the transportation system that would eliminate bussing within two miles of each school.

Superintendent Lynn Steenblock recommended the action on Aug. 3, saying the Vote Yes Committee is forming and needs the guidelines of what happens in ISD 831 should the levy vote be defeated in November.

ìThis is what happens if it fails,î Steenblock said.

His comments came as board member David Gay asked for more time to study and consider the recommendation. ìThis is a pretty big decision,î Gay said, asking if the cut list was a ìstarting pointî for board consideration.

But with the district looking at the proposal for most of the year, Steenblock urged the board to take action.

The board did so on a 5-1 vote with Gay opposed. President Bill Bresin, Joe Grafft, Julie Corcoran, Rob Rapheal and new member Dan Kieger were in favor. Member Eric Langness was absent.

Steenblock said some may construe the plan as a threat, but he said the public should be told in advance of the consequences should the $6.5 million by rejected by voters. By not doing so, the superintendent said the districtís credibility would certainly take a hit.

Member Joe Grafft agreed.

ìIf the levy goes down, this is what is going to happen,î Grafft said. ìPeople need to know how serious this is.î

Corcoran said the consequences are real. ìThe big dollars arenít going to come out of the air,î she said. ìThey are (the cuts) what they are.î

Bresin said a budget of reduction of $6 million is far more difficult than previous cuts of $3 million and that task, too, was difficult.

Steenblock said the proposal, if needed, would do little good for students or the community in general.

The cuts

The reduction in classroom teachers alone will account for over half of the proposed savings.

The plan would trim 74 teaching slots, secondary and elementary, for a savings of $3.1 million.

Steenblock said the average class would increase by about nine students with some classes spiking to as high as 40 students.

Here are the other reduction areas and the projected dollar savings:

ïStudent safety and family support, $445,625.

ïStudent achievement, $610,000.

ïElementary building closure, $450,000.

ïLibrary services, $243,750.

ïCustodial services, $144,000.

ïTransportation services, $350,000.

ïSecondary student schedules, $510,000.

ïStudent activities, $320,000.

ïBand/orchestra, $168,750.

ïSpecial education, $140,000.

ïTeaching staff/class size, $3,145,000.

The impact

The cuts would impact the district in many ways.

The transportation changes would be dramatic. Not only would parents living within two miles have to get their kids to school or ask them to walk, a new triple bus routing system would result in a staggered school start time at the elementary level. The savings would be found in bus route elimination.

In evaluating the bus system cuts, Rapheal measured the dollar savings to the potential tax on an average home and said the savings would be 2.5 cents a day.

Calling the idea of the cuts ìterribleî for the district, Rapheal said it was time for the community to stand up for kids. If the levy fails, he said Forest Lake would fall to the ìbottom of the barrelî of state schools.

ìI donít believe our community is going to do that,î he said.

In terms of staff, the cuts would target counselors, deans, behavioral intervention specialists, the teacher mentor program, paraprofessionals, gifted resource teachers, elementary and secondary media specialists and custodians.

The districtís family support advocate and assessment and evaluation coordinator, two positions approved by the board a year ago, would be eliminated at a savings of $200,000.

The proposal would also dump the current four-period day and move to a seven-period day at the high school and ALC for a savings of $340,000. Teachers would handle six class assignments with one prep period.

The closing of the district pool would save $220,000 by eliminating the supervisor and all swimming activities.

Gifted and band programs would also take hits.

The district would lose half of its gifted resource teachers and see nearly $168,000 in savings with band and orchestra cuts. Gone would be the elementary band-orchestra program, secondary individual and group music lessons and the summer band programs.

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Forest Lake Times
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Forest Lake, MN 55025
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