Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Consensus is near for the basic structure of a November levy vote in ISD 831, but the final standing for one school board member remains in question.

During a board work session on the levy Monday, five of the current six-member board were close to agreement on the basic levy question and the length of time the levy would be in place.

Board President Bill Bresin, Joe Grafft, David Gay, Rob Rapheal and Julie Corcoran have identified a base question of $6 million to $6.5 million and all could go four to five years for the term of the levy. A second question would add more dollars to enable the district to enhance its programs.

But the wildcard in the plan is member Eric Langness who offered a plan Monday that includes levy dollars and budget cuts. ìI want to offer the voters a choice,î Langness said.

Bresin said it was important for the board to go forward unified for the November vote, but added it was equally important to settle on a levy plan and move forward soon. ìWe have to make a decision at some point,î Bresin said.

That could come as early as Thursday, June 29 when the board meets again in regular session. After hearing the six proposals Monday, Bresin asked his fellow board members to study each for more discussion June 29 and possibly decide that night on the plan the district will take to the voters.

The June 29th meeting is a change. Because of the July 4th holiday, the July 6th meeting was moved to June 29.

Langness plan

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All six members came prepared Monday with individual plans, answering a charge by Bresin who asked each member to do homework for the June 12 session.

Langness, who successfully ran for election last fall as an anti-levy candidate, offered a plan that included a base levy of $5 million for four years and one-time budget cuts of $1 million.

Langness said he felt it best to offer voters a plan that would pass while making cuts that would also satisfy voters.

He proposed to eliminate the four-period day at the high school, implement an increased walking area for students riding buses, implement a triple bussing system, eliminate the evaluation and assessment coordinator and the family support advocate, eliminate the communication coordinator and reduce assistant principals from 12-month to 11-month positions.

The $1 million savings would provide a 3 percent inflationary cushion, he said.

Langness proposed second and third ballot questions that would add $1.5 million and $1 million over the four-year term to protect the district from additional budget cuts and enable the district to focus on lower classroom size district wide. Langness would not include dollars for half-day, every-day kindergarten and technology, but felt it important to have dollars to fund strategic planning recommendations from the recent school effort.

But Langness was adamant he would not support a plan that contained the potential for more broken promises and would merely keep the lights on. ìWeíre not going to shut the lights off,î Langness said. ìWeíll find a way to do it.î

If the board was intent on merely keeping the lights on, Langness said he would oppose the levy plan.

Board reaction

The Langness plan drew skeptical response from other board members who questioned how the board could charge a levy committee to move forward with a plan to support schools that included budget cuts at the same time.

The plan may well draw opposition from other voters, members said.

In offering plans that would raise a base levy of $6 million to $6.5 million, the other five members were in agreement that the funding was needed to head off major cuts for the 2007-2008 budget year when the current $6 million levy expires.

The additional dollars from a secondary levy question could be used to hire teachers to lower class size and improve student achievement, provide half-day, every-day kindergarten, fund curriculum needs such as textbooks, add high potential programs and add back some programs previously cut.

Dollars to fund strategic planning programs and help the district protect its fund balance would also be available.

While Bresin, Grafft, Corcoran and Rapheal were OK with a $6.5 million base question, member Gay listed $6 million as his first ballot option. Gay said he needed more time to form a final position after spending most of his time doing spread sheets to show how levy proposals would impact residents who pay property taxes.

Based on his study from the recent Standard & Poorís ranking, Gay pointed to a comparison between Forest Lake and Hastings. While Hastings has a levy that collects $1225 per pupil, Forest Lake is at $665 per pupil, he said.

That is accomplished based on a median home valuation of $152,324 in Forest Lake while the median home valuation in Hastings is $143,087. The median income in Hastings is $82,760 while Forest Lakeís median income is $87,529.

Forest Lake is ranked the second best metro district in value for dollar invested by Standard & Poorís. Hastings was 68th on the list.

More comments

There was compromise at Mondayís meeting.

Bresinís plan eliminated funding for technology. Corcoran agreed to go four to five years for the levy, accepting the argument by others that any levy of three years is too short based on the time and energy needed by the district and citizens to mount a levy campaign.

After initially proposing $6.7 million as his base levy, Grafft said he would lower his total to $6.5 million. Rapheal said he would favor a plan that would ìdo no harmî while fixing top priorities and critical needs and avoiding future cuts.

Langness, too, said he wasnít locked in to his plan. He said he would be flexible in areas where he would make cuts, but challenged fellow board members to form their own lists of where cuts should be made in the event that scenario plays out.

Grafft, for one, said he was remaining optimistic, but yet frustrated. He pointed to Stillwater as a point of frustration.

While Forest Lake is mulling over a $6.5 million levy, the big neighbor to the south has a $12 million levy on the books and wants to increase that amount to $15 million.

ìIím the eternal optimist,î Grafft said. ìIím going to remain optimistic. This thing (levy) is going to pass.î

Rapheal said the levy was a challenge to parents and the public to support schools.

ìThere is no reason that with our strong work ethic that we canít have the best schools around,î he said in his position paper.

ìThere is no reason that with the great work our kids do that we canít push them to achieve more than ever before. It is with these beliefs in my heart that I ask this community to stand up, without excuse, for the kids of this district and their education.î

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