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| Stimulus funding will save FL teaching jobs |
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| Friday, 26 June 2009 | |
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Cliff Buchan News Editor The numbers are in for federal stimulus dollars coming to ISD 831 and the big number is that 13 teaching slots won’t end up being cut. The school board heard that good news on Thursday night in a report from the administration. And by splitting up some of the positions, the flow of dollars from the American Recovery and Rehabilitation Act will mean 11 teachers who were previously axed as a result of budget cuts will be rehired. The school board voted during the regular meeting to approve the stimulus funding plan for the 2009-10 school year. The board was also updated on the stimulus budget impact for the 2010-2011 school year. Superintendent Lynn Steenblock updated the board on the final stimulus numbers now in the hands of school officials here. In all over the two-year period, ISD 831 will receive $1,818,889.79 which will be spent evenly over the two years, he said. Of that total, $1,533,279.66 will go to services for early childhood programs and services for K-12 students. The district plan calls for spending $751,386.99 for K-12 services and $15,252.84 for early childhood needs in each of the two years. The latter area will see funds devoted to staff development. The K-12 funding will mean the hiring of 11.5 full-time equivalent teaching positions at the elementary schools and four FTEs at the secondary schools. The stimulus bill also provides Forest Lake with $285,610.10 for Title I allocation. Those dollars will be split evenly over two years with $142,805.05 used in both years. Under Title I rules, the district is mandated to maintain $45,130.05 as a set-aside in each year, meaning $97,675 will be available for Title I needs. The plan calls for the district to add 1.5 FTE reading teachers who will work throughout the eight elementary buildings. The district will also hire a fourth .5 FTE reading teacher through its K-12 funding allocation. By approving the stimulus funding plan, the district will more than cut in half the number of jobs cut as part of its budget reduction efforts in April. Some 15 teaching slots were part of the 30 jobs that were cut as the board reduced its expenditures by some $3.5 million. The budget cuts became necessary when the legislature provided no new funding to schools and Forest Lake’s enrollment continues to decline. Thanks to a salary freeze concession by teachers for the first year of the new teacher contract, the district was able to save $1.2 million of the funds that were to come from district cash reserves. The board could not come to full agreement on one part of the funding plan. Steenblock recommended dollar pools of $70,000 for special education needs to be determined in the fall when school opens, $83,000 to replace instructional materials that were part of the cut plan and $69,386.99 for staff development. Member Eric Langness said he supported more than 90 percent of the funding plan but wanted more detail on how the staff development dollars would be spent. A Langness motion to pass the funding plans sans the three special areas passed 4-2 by Acting Chair Joe Grafft and Rob Rapheal opposed on the basis of wanting the entire package ratified in full. Votes by Langness, David Gay, Dan Kieger and Julie Corcoran carried the motion. Board President Bill Bresin was absent. A second motion to approve the three special fund areas also passed 4-2 with Langess and Gay opposed and members Grafft, Rapheal, Kieger and Corcoran in favor. Warning Steenblock, who was working his final regular meeting before retirement on June 30, cast a warning to the board to prepare for tough days ahead. The stimulus money will do wonders for the next two schools years, he said. But he cautioned the board to be thinking ahead to the 2011-2012 school year. “That all has to go away and the state has some problems, too,” Steenblock said of the stimulus dollars and the still-looming state budget crisis. He questioned what the state will be able to do in replacing the $500 million that is flowing to schools via the stimulus dollars. That’s the amount that schools in the state will need to remain whole with funding, he said. The state must also find ways to cover its obligation to schools for the pending shifts in school aid payments from one fiscal year to the next. Gov. Pawlenty’s unallotment plan that is coming on July 1 is expected to shift some 27 percent of school aid payments to 2010, meaning Forest Lake must move ahead with a $7.9 million plan to borrow money in anticipation of state aid payments. The revenue picture for 2011-12 runs the risk of “falling off a cliff,” Steenblock said. Janitorial moves The board also used its power and a recommendation from Steenblock to add back two custodial positions that had been cut this spring. Because the closing of the ice arena resulted in the elimination of one custodian, the board agreed to reinstate the position at an estimated yearly cost of $42,000. The board also used an administrative recommendation to add back a custodial position at Southwest Junior High School by utilizing an accounting charge-back from the general fund to both the community education and food services funds. That means a draw down of $21,000 from both departments which are carrying healthy fund balances. The board also agreed to transfer a custodian from the Central Learning Center to Century Junior High School to meet greater student needs. The action is a result of concerns raised to the administration by board members regarding the levels of custodial cuts. The board voted 6-0 to take the action. Social Bookmarking ...       |
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