Area schools facing cuts to state aid
Area schools are again facing a projected cut to state aid, according to superintendents from local districts.
Pepin Area Schools Superintendent Bruce Quinton said for about the last eight years, the district has seen a 15.7 percent reduction in state aid.
"We'll see about a $70,000 reduction in the 2014-15 school year, which leaves $1,667 per student," he said. "We have around 237 full-time equivalent students."
The total aid the Pepin district will receive is $395,000.
Quinton said he doesn't understand how tax payers can possibly be OK with sending private voucher schools more state dollar funding than local public schools.
"I have nothing against private voucher schools," he said. "They have their place. If a parent wants to send their child to St. Felix in Wabasha, that's their right, but it shouldn't be the responsibility of the taxpayer to subsidize it."
Quinton said private voucher schools are receiving $7,856 per high school student, and $7,210 for pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students.
Quinton said one of the problems is the Pepin School District is considered a property value-rich district, but the income of the residents does not reflect the same situation.
"If we were funded at the same percentage as other schools in the area, we would have the second lowest mill rate," he said. "In many cases, we'd be significantly lower."
The mill rate is the amount taxed per $1,000 property value.
"We're very mindful of the fact that we're consistently losing state aid," Quinton said. "We have to be careful with what we can do. The cut does affect how we manage the budget."
Quinton said the budget has been flat for the last four years, despite the loss in aid, as the levee has been steadily maintained, and cost is reduced in other ways.
"If we were funded at the same rate as the private voucher schools, we would receive $1,744,820," Quinton said. "That would have lowered taxes $1,279.672, and the mill rate would be at $9.04 compared to $15.06."
Quinton said state funding is equalized, or based on the property value behind each student.
"The problem is, the Pepin district isn't income-rich," he said. "We're well below the state average."
For the future, Quinton said the aid situation will depend on the fall elections.
"Four years ago there was significantly less state funding," he said. "Last year, there was a $75 per student increase. We have no idea what to expect, but we've put ourselves in good fiscal shape. However, with a small school, we have very little wiggle room, so something's got to give."
Quinton said multiple unfunded mandates, such as educator effectiveness, response and intervention, and smarter balanced assessments, have led to a reduction in staff and increased responsibilities for the staff that is left.
"This can cause burnout for the administrative team, and teachers," he said. "These mandates are designed for urban schools and their problems, which are not problems we have."
Quinton said the Pepin district is probably in a better situation than other districts who expect the help.
"When they lose money, they're not used to dealing with it and it can be very difficult, whereas we are prepared and expect to lose funding," he said.
Alma School District Steve Sedlmayr said they've been in the same situation for quite some time now.
"We're losing about $130,000, or $620 per student," he said.
Alma has 210 students that it receives aid for. Five years ago, the district received $1.323 million.
"We've lost 45 percent of our aid in the last five years," Sedlmayr said. "We saw it coming."
Sedlmayr said staff in the Alma district is stable, and teachers have had to pick up additional certification.
"They teach one session of most classes for each grade level," he said. "It's still real difficult. We have a lot of fixed costs, and labor cost is a big part of the budget."
Another volatile part of the budget is fossil fuels.
"We're not on the natural gas grid," he said. "We haven't been fortunate enough to see the savings natural gas has afforded some school districts. We have to buy fuel oil, and prices have gone crazy."
Sedlmayr said 10 years ago the cost was under $30,000, but this last year the cost was close to $130,000.
"Bus fuel is doing the same thing," he said. "These are just things we can't control. Over the years when we didn't have to spend money on something, we put it away for a rainy day. It's now been raining for quite a few years."
Sedlmayr said the district finds little ways here and there to save money.
"When a charter school is getting $7,800 for a high school student, compared to our $2,400, it makes you sit back and wonder why they are so much more important than us to the state," he said. "People need to be aware and ask their legislators why."
Sedlmayr said he expects to continue to lose aid for at least the next year or two.
"It's frustrating, and declining enrollment plays a big factor, as well as increased land values," he said. "A lot of the land values we're unable to tax, due to land management programs. The funding formula just doesn't work as well as it used to."
Sedlmayr said when the district was receiving $5,800 per student, the free and reduced lunch rate was about 18 percent, and when aid was reduced to $3,000 per student, it increased to 40 percent.
"It's becoming more difficult for people to sustain the cost of providing a good education," he said. "This is something we all face, and it's becoming more and more difficult."
Sedlmayr said a lot of schools are at the hold harmless rate of 15.7 percent.
"As we do our forecast for the coming years, we forsee continuing to lose," he said.
In Durand, aid is projected to go up slightly in 2014-15.
"We're looking at a projected increase of $17,266," said Superintendent Greg Doverspike. "It's about $18 to $20 per student."
Doverspike said the increase slightly reduces the tax levee, but doesn't do anything for the budget. Durand receives about $5,450 per student.
For the future, Doverspike said it will depend on how the economy goes, and the election will likely play a part in the future of state aid.
