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Pawlenty's funding proposal seen as encouraging BRAINERD SCHOOL BOARD Staff Writer Steve Dickinson, Brainerd School District director of business services, said it's still too early to gauge how Gov. Tim Pawlenty's latest proposal to add $108 million in funding to K-12 education, if passed, would impact the district's projected $3 million budget shortfall next year.
However, Dickinson said Pawlenty's proposal announced last week may provide the district with an estimated $185,000 funding increase from the governor's earlier proposal which would provide about $423,000, or a total of about $585,000 or possibly more, to help the district during this budget crunch.
Dickinson said the governor's revised proposal is encouraging.
School board members Monday approved the recommendation made by the school board finance committee last week to use $1 million of the district's unreserved fund balance toward the $3 million budget deficit for the 2005-2006 school year. The finance committee also recommended that district administration provide a prioritized list of budget reductions totaling $2 million for the committee's review at its March 29 committee meeting, although this doesn't mean the board will make $2 million in staff and program cuts.
If school board members decide to spend down about $1 million in its unreserved fund balance and receives about $585,000 in relief by state lawmakers during this legislative session, program and staff cuts could be around $1.4 million next year.
Superintendent Jerry Walseth informed the board that the district has enrolled 57 Crosby-Ironton students through open enrollment since the C-I teachers' strike began Feb. 9. Walseth said there are about 10-15 other C-I students who have expressed interest in enrolling in Brainerd Schools since the strike began. Walseth said the district typically has about 200 students from neighboring school districts who opt to use open enrollment in Brainerd Schools on any given year. So far Walseth said the district has been able to absorb the sudden influx of C-I students. The ninth-grade class remains closed to open enrollment because of the large class size but Walseth said if C-I students prove they live within the borders of the district they may be accepted into the ninth-grade class.
The board Monday commended Riverside Elementary Principal Cathy Engler for Riverside Elementary School being named one of only six schools in the state as a 2004-2005 School of Excellence by the Minnesota Elementary School Principals' Association. An award ceremony is planned for 1 p.m. Friday at Riverside School gymnasium.
The board approved a request for 2005 Grad Blast for BHS graduating seniors on May 27.
Monday's school board meeting was the last one held at district offices at Mississippi Horizons. April's school board meeting will be held in the former media center on the second floor of the Washington Educational Services Building, said Walseth. Walseth said several district offices and staff already have moved to the former Washington Middle School building and within two weeks all central office staff will be located there. All staff members at Washington will have new office numbers while the old phone numbers will be able to be transferred for a short period of time, said Walseth.
Kevin Donnay, Widseth Smith Nolting, said because the building's use has changed from a school to offices, the building is now required by the city of Brainerd to have a conditional use permit. The Brainerd Planning Commission told him that the school district would need to add additional parking spaces. Donnay said the district could add about 73 parking spaces at its property located to the south of the modular buildings at Washington. Donnay said the city extended its time frame until the fall of 2007 for the district to find the funds to construct the parking lot. JODIE TWEED can be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
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