[Winona Online Democracy] Greetings,
Yesterday I had the opportunity, along with other school board and community members, to meet with legislators at the capital and receive an update on how the budget will impact K-12. I know we will receive an update from our business office at a school board meeting soon, but I wanted to share with you my initial understanding of how this proposal will impact K-12 in district 861. I'm not doing this to claim "the sky is falling", but since it is a very complicated issue I thought it might be good to get information out so people can begin to understand how the community will be impacted. The plan calls for a reduction in funding to Winona Area Public Schools of $197 per pupil. This amounts to about $850,000 in reduced money to the district. The State will offset that by an addition of $197 in "Transition Money" the first year of the budget, so the impact on the district will be negligible the first year. In the next couple of years after that, the plan calls for giving school boards the authority to levy property taxes in the amount of $197 per pupil. After that, a referendum must be passed to retain the funding. It should be noted that the 2.2% increase in funding to schools described in the Governors plan is NOT an increase in state funding to schools. What the plan does is adds up all the local referendums that were passed last year by school districts (to go in effect next year) and divides by the number of school districts in the state (and calls it a 2.2% increase in per pupil funding). Overall, though, the plan reduces state funding to K12 by 12%. There are other elements of the plan that will result in increased financial pressure on 861, such as a freeze in Special Education funding and reduced overall funding in coming years. Prior to this plan being introduced, the School Board began the early stages of a process to reduce our budget by at least $1 million in the coming year -- in order to keep it balanced. The cuts in the governor's plan can be added on top of that projection. Because of these existing financial pressures, it is likely that the School Board would enact significant cuts in the budget in the coming year and levy to maintain the $197 per pupil that the proposal allows for in the following year (for those keeping score . . . yes, this would mean an increase in local property taxes as a result of the Governor's proposal). Obviously, this would be debated and would depend on the actual situation a year from now. But even with maintaining the $197 levy, if current projections hold true, the district would continue to make significant cuts (beyond the initial $1 million) in the following years in order to maintain a balanced budget. Hope that helps give some idea of the proposal. Keep in mind that this is my understanding of the budget. It is entirely possible that this information may change as more analysis becomes available or the Governor's plan changes due to changing economic conditions. Also, this email does not discuss the impact on ECFE and Community Education, which is likely to be significant, as well. I'd be happy to answer any questions (or hear any ideas), though. Steve Kranz, Board Member Winona Area Public Schools _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
