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Tuesday, October 2, 2007
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Forum explores
school
elections
Staff Writer Marv Begin stood alone at Monday's Rosenmeier Forum at Central Lakes College - though he was seated as one of six panelists on stage - in his opposition to the Brainerd school levy referendum.
Begin, a Fort Ripley man who has run three times unsuccessfully for Brainerd School Board, explained how he said the school district is using children as pawns and blackmailing parents with threats about what will happen if the $5.75 million school levy referendum doesn't pass Nov. 6. He said this behavior leads down the road toward fascism. He characterized school board members as "puppets" who are controlled by the teachers and their spouses.
"They control the vote," said Begin.
The Gordon Rosenmeier Center for State and Local Government Monday sponsored "Crunchtime: the School Levy Referendum" forum in the Chalberg Theater at CLC in Brainerd, a panel discussion attended by more than 130 people.
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Brainerd Superintendent Jerry Walseth (right) spoke as one of six panelists at Monday's Rosenmeier Forum at Central Lakes College. The forum addressed school levy referendums. Panelists included Scott Kile, a Crosby-Ironton School Board member (left); Kent Montgomery, Brainerd School Board chair; Steve Dickinson, director of business services for the Brainerd School District; and Marv Begin, a school levy referendum opponent. Also on the panel but not pictured was Gary Kawlewski, a financial adviser for Ehlers and Associates, a Twin Cities school finance consulting firm working with the Brainerd district. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
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Panelists included Begin, an opponent of increasing property taxes via referendum; Jerry Walseth, superintendent of the Brainerd School District; Steve Dickinson, director of business services for the Brainerd district; Kent Montgomery, chair of the Brainerd School Board; Scott Kile, a member of the Crosby-Ironton School Board; and Gary Kawlewski, a financial adviser for Ehlers and Associates, a Twin Cities school finance consulting firm that is working with the Brainerd School District. Moderator was David Allan Pundt, KLKS-FM Radio news director and Rosenmeier Forum board member.
One question asked by the audience was why Begin was the only person in opposition of levy referendums while the rest were proponents. Pundt explained that it is difficult to find people who are willing to be outspoken in their opposition.
"We've got about 15,000 people in back of us and they're afraid to speak out," said Begin. "If they're business people they don't want to speak out."
School officials from Brainerd and Kile, representing the C-I School Board, explained how both districts got to the point of asking taxpayers for a tax increase to support their schools.
The Brainerd district, facing a $5 million budget deficit next year, is seeking to revoke its current operating levy of $199.24 per pupil and to replace it with a new levy of $986 per pupil, a $786.76 per pupil increase kindergarten . For property owners, except seasonal residential properties, with a $100,000 market value, this will mean a tax increase of $152 annually.
The C-I School District, facing a $971,336 budget deficit next year, is asking taxpayers to support two questions Nov. 6. The first operating levy question will ask for a $495 per pupil tax increase to maintain existing academic and extra-curricular activities for students, as well as adding all-day everyday kindergarten. The first question must pass in order for the second question to be considered. The second question will ask taxpayers for a $100 per pupil increase to pay for preventative and current maintenance-related projects. For property owners, except seasonal residential properties, with a $100,000 market value, this will mean an annual tax increase of $85.20 if the first question passes and an additional $21 annually if the second question passes.
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Brainerd Superintendent Jerry Walseth spoke (right) as operating levy referendum opponent Marv Begin listened Monday at the Rosenmeier Forum at Central Lakes College in Brainerd. The event was sponsored by the Gordon Rosenmeier Center for State and Local Government. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
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Kile said flat funding by the Legislature for education and declining enrollment in the C-I district have contributed to its dire financial situation. He said in 1998 the C-I district had more than 1,600 students. This year there are 1,225 students and the district continues to lose revenue to maintain what they currently have. Since 1998, the district has cut $2 million from the budget, including a $310,000 budget reduction last spring. If the referendum fails, Kile said cuts will be so massive that it will change the identity of the school district. Their Plan B includes combining the elementary and high school into one building and converting the high school's five gymnasiums into classrooms. There will be few, if any, extracurricular activities or athletics offered if the levy fails, he said.
"C-I's identity would take a huge hit," said Kile.
When asked if the 2005 C-I teacher's strike will have an impact on whether the operating levy fails, Kile said bad feelings still remain following the strike. He said when he speaks to different community groups or coffee clubs about the levy, those who say they are against the operating levy usually say they are mad at the teachers, mad at the school administrators and mad at the school board - or a combination of all three.
"I think it's a poor reason because it's not about the teachers, it's about the students," said Kile.
Kile criticized the way school districts are funded by the Legislature and said everyone in a unified voice should carry this message to St. Paul. His remarks were met by applause by audience members.
When asked a submitted question by an audience member about why he and his opposition group that meets weekly at the Brainerd Public Library have not listened to a levy presentation by the school district, Begin said he would consider it.
"Well, if he didn't hog up all the time," Begin said, of Dickinson.
"I'll be there," responded Dickinson.
Monday's Rosenmeier Forum will be rebroadcast frequently before the Nov. 6 election on Channels 8 and 15 on Charter Communications and CTC.
JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
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