'Operating referendum or huge cuts'

EAST GULL LAKE - How do you address a $5 million deficit?

The Brainerd School Board members met Thursday in a board retreat at the Army Corps of Engineers Conference Center in East Gull Lake to discuss how to resolve the district's $5 million projected deficit for the 2008-09 school year.

They didn't take any action or make any decisions.

They did discuss options.

Their alternatives include making $5 million in budget cuts next year, asking taxpayers for an operating levy referendum this fall or a combination of the two.

"We've definitely seen it coming for a long time," said Steve Dickinson, director of business services. "We've known we're heading for an operating referendum or huge cuts."

At last year's retreat, Dickinson told the board the district would need two years of 8 percent increase in the general education formula from the state this year in order to turn its budget around and start developing a healthy unreserved fund balance again. The Legislature actually provided the district with a 2 percent increase next year and a 1 percent increase in 2008-09.

Dickinson said the average annual state general education formula increase for the past six years for the district was 1.8 percent. The district will have a projected $278,730 unreserved fund balance next year and a $5 million deficit at the end of the 2008-09 school year. To build up the unreserved fund balance the district would need an additional $700,000 for each 1 percent unreserved fund balance increase, Dickinson said.

If the district were to cut $5 million from its annual budget, that would likely mean a loss of 60-100 teachers.

"What'll happen is you won't see another Blue Ribbon school," Superintendent Jerry Walseth said of such a deep cut. "What will happen is you won't see us in Newsweek. I don't know if we could hold the Literacy Collaborative together."

Assistant Superintendent Steve Razidlo said if five teachers per grade level were let go, kindergarten classes would have about 30-35 students per class, middle level students would no longer have a team structure and have about 35-40 students per classroom with about 38-45 students per classroom at the high school.

Walseth said every school district that goes out and shows voters a list of programs and employees on the chopping block has community members who say the district is simply threatening them to pass an operating levy. Walseth said this is not true.

"This isn't about us," Walseth said of a potential operating levy referendum this fall. "It's about kids and this community and the level of education this community wants to support."

The board also reviewed action plans created by administrators and staff members as part of the district's long-range planning process. Community meetings were conducted throughout the school year to find out what priorities were most important to them. Board members ranked those priorities. Those priorities, in order of importance, included curriculum, early childhood education, finance, time (increasing student achievement through effective use of time), technology, global citizenship, staff development, facilities, communications and legislative action.

If the district were to implement all of those priorities, it would cost a projected $3.42 million.

The board agreed with elementary principals, who along with secondary principals submitted a list of their priorities, that all-day, everyday kindergarten is a top priority. While six of the eight elementary schools offer all-day, everyday kindergarten, only 43 percent of the district's kindergartners actually have access to it. The two largest elementary schools, Riverside and Baxter, do not have all-day, everyday kindergarten.

Another issue discussed was transforming summer school programs from a credit recovery model to skills-growth model at Forestview, Brainerd High School, BHS South Campus and the Area Education Center, as well as adding an enrichment summer school or other acceleration opportunities for students. Forestview Middle School students are losing out on 20-30 minutes of instructional time because of busing schedules, a situation that would require a change in transportation patterns and routes to eliminate such inequities.

Walseth laid out the timeline in which a decision will be made about an operating levy referendum.

The school board finance committee will meet at 11:30 a.m. Thursday to hear a presentation from Ehlers and Associates about referendum options and tax impact information. July 9 will be the next regular school board meeting. On July 26 the board will meet in a workshop session to break down the long lists of action plans into financial packages. The finance committee has a tentative meeting Aug. 9 to come up with a recommendation for the board, which will meet on Aug. 13 to potentially approve a resolution calling for an election to ask taxpayers for an operating levy referendum or cut $5 million in the budget or a combination of both, said Walseth.

JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.