Commentary; Posted: 2/7/07
Congratulations to schools in Forest Lake
Joe Nathan
Education Columnist
Congrats to the Forest Lake Public Schools. Congrats also to Lakes International Language Academy and North Lakes Academy charter public schools. None of them appear on either of two lists released last week by the Minnesota Department of Education.
Both lists describe districts and charter public schools that need greater scrutiny of their financial affairs.
Why praise these folks for not appearing on a list? Because the district and local charters have done difficult, important financial things, right.
The first, and more serious list includes 16 school districts and four charter public schools that are in Statutory Operating Debt. The state department defines that as a district having a "level of debt with a negative net unreserved general fund balance that exceeds 2.5 percent of its yearly general fund operating expenditures for the year."
Sounds complicated, but think about your family finances: a little debt is not great, but you probably can manage it. More debt can be a big problem.
SOD means that a district has a debt greater than 2.5 percent of the basic amount it used to operate last year. State law requires that such districts develop a plan for getting out of debt.
The vast majority of districts and charters are not on the list. Minnesota had 343 districts last year, and only 16 were in SOD. There were 120 charters, of which only four were in SOD.
It's fascinating to see which districts are on this list. (The report is available at education.state.mn.us) They include a mixture of suburban and rural districts. Among them are districts like Brooklyn Center, Hopkins and Roseville, as well as rural districts like Carlton, Greenway, Holdingford and Sauk Centre.
Four charters schools appear on the list: Cyber Village, Watershed, Sobriety and Main Street for Performing Arts, all in the metro area.
The second, longer list has 21 traditional districts and 19 charters. Districts on this list did not comply with state law, mandating that they submit an audited financial statement to the Minnesota Department of Education by Jan. 8.
The list includes Minneapolis and St. Paul Public Schools, as well as suburban (Farmington, Brooklyn Center and St. Louis Park) and rural districts. It also includes 19 charter public schools, some of which have closed, or have not yet opened.
An audit is not just a nit-picking, obscure report. It is an independent review that the public needs to know what is happening in a school or district.
Unfortunately, some people "rip off" the public, transferring public funds into their own pockets. An audit helps the public know if questionable things are happening with finances.
In releasing the report, Minnesota Commissioner of Education Alice Seagren noted that the list of schools and districts in SOD is at its lowest level since 1998, when there were 10. The high was 1994, when 59 districts were in SOD.
There are many ways to interpret financial figures.
But one thing is clear. Districts like Forest Lake, and charters like Lakes International and North Lakes Academy deserve praise and recognition for their finances.
Staying out of SOD, and submitting reports on time, means administrators and the school board are doing important things, right.
Joe Nathan, a former public school teacher and administrator, directs the Center for School Change, Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota jnathan@hhh.umn.edu.
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