The recently announced $24 million budget crisis for the 2005-06 school year by the St. Paul Public Schools has raised the interest and concerns of many list members. Due to my schedule and the desire to be completely accurate in my statement, I haven't been able to post prior to now. But, for the good it will do, here is some basic information to help list members prepare for what will be an important community discussion surrounding the budget process. Over the past several years, the district has made an increasingly concerted effort to reach out to educate the community on its budget issues and to solicit comments. I expect that the district will redouble its efforts to 1) hear community concerns, priorities and appeals related to the budgeting process, and 2) to educate the community on the problems the district faces. In my experience, the district has made substantial improvement in community outreach on budget issues, but it has ample room for additional improvement. The district has until June 30, 2005 to submit its final budget proposal to the state of Minnesota.
The Basic Budget Process: If the 2004-05 budget process follows the steps of previous years, both the central office and individuals schools/programs will be involved in budget development. At the school level the budgeting process begins with the central office informing schools of how much revenue they are expected to have in the next year, based on student projections. The individual schools determine how the revenue will be spent. Some of the services or programs at an individual school are administered by central office. Examples are food service, transportation, special education teachers and English Language Learners (ELL) teachers. Thus a total school budget includes revenues administered by the school itself and by the central office. In the past, school budgets have been reviewed and approved by school site councils. The amount of involvement the site council and its members have in budget development and approval varies from school to school, ranging from a high level of involvement to what some describe as a "rubber stamp" process. In their budgeting process, schools struggle to "keep the cuts as far away from the classrooms as possible." Still, a significant number of teachers and staff have been cut at the school level in recent years. In my opinion schools will have a very hard time keeping substantial cuts away from classrooms during this budget cycle. Traditionally schools submit their budgets in the spring. Late April or early May has traditionally been the final deadline, but there is communication back and forth between the school and the central office prior to the official deadline. The school budgets are combined with the budgets being developed and administered by central office to create the "final budget" that is submitted to the Minnesota Department of Education by the June 30 deadline. In the past, the individual schools have administered approximately half of the total revenue the St. Paul Public Schools receive, and the district's central offices have administered the other half. It should be noted that most of the district's "half" is allocated directly to schools as opposed to being "kept" at the central office level. This point will be important to keep in mind as the budget process gets underway and cuts are proposed. Because the central offices administrate approximately half of the revenue does not necessarily mean the district offices are overstaffed, top heavy, etc. These terms are pejorative. The percentage of administrative costs in our district could and should be compared to other similarly sized school districts or entities in other industries to provide some fair perspective. A word of caution: During the next few months you'll hear and see many references to "the budget." Make sure you understand what is being referred to: is it the total budget? The general fund budget? The transportation budget? Depending upon which budget is being discussed, the amounts will vary--sometimes significantly. When community members see different totals for "the budget" without knowing precisely which budget is being referred to, confusion and mistrust are natural outcomes. My source for the revenue and expense information below is the one inch thick 2004-05 budget book for the district, phone conversations with district officials to check facts, and my own knowledge. Any list member is encouraged to post corrections to these comments--respectfully, of course. Where revenue came from by source for 2004-05: According to the district's published budget, in the 2004-05 school year 74.6 percent of total budget comes from the State of Minnesota. State revenue includes the general fund (figured on a per pupil basis), compensatory education revenue (indexed to poverty on a per pupil basis) integration revenue (figured on a per pupil basis); funds designated for special education (based on a cost reimbursement formula that reimburses about 55% of actual cost), and funds designated for English Language Learners (figured on a per pupil basis for only those students whose home language is other than English). Local revenue accounts for 13 percent of total budget. This revenue source is tied to St. Paul's property taxes. It includes the 2002 referendum. Federal revenue accounts for 9.4 percent of the total budget. This source includes Title 1 dollars, given in a block to the state, then redistributed by the state to school districts. It is indexed to poverty rates. The district receives other revenue including fees, grants received, donations, and in kind contributions. Where district revenue is budgeted for the 2004-05 by category: Classrooms: 72 percent Buildings, Upkeep, Utilities: 17 percent Transportation and Meals: 7.7 percent Administration: 3.3 percent As the budget process gets underway, I invite list members to submit questions they might have to me and we will do our best to provide researched and accurate answers. Roger Barr Support Our Schools 10 River Park Plaza Suite 800 St. Paul, MN 55107 email: roger @supportourschools.info _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
