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Area Schools Forced to Cut: EDUCATION:As Enrollments and State Financial Support Fall, the Cuts Reach Northland Classrooms.

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 May 2006, 06:00 CDT

By Janna Goerdt, Duluth News-Tribune, Minn.

May 10--It's a simple equation that's become painfully familiar to area school districts: fewer students equals less money, and that equals larger class sizes and fewer electives.

In Two Harbors, that could mean draining the two district pools for half the year, for a savings of $42,000.

In Proctor, it could mean phasing out the German language program over the next several years, saving the cost of one teacher.

In Cloquet, it could mean shaving one day off the student calendar for a savings of $9,200.

But wherever they turn for savings, district leaders agree that cutting their budgets becomes harder each year.

"We do not have anywhere to cut that will not cause substantial pain to our constituents and staff," said Cloquet Superintendent Ken Scarbrough.

School boards are drawing up lists of possible reductions as the June 30 state deadline for finalizing their budgets draws near.

In April, the Duluth School Board authorized about $1.5 million in budget cuts and $1 million in new spending for the 2006-07 school year.

CLOQUET

The Cloquet School Board is trying to cut $780,000 from the district's $22.4 million budget. So far, the list of possible reductions includes some items that probably won't be noticed -- eliminating some pay for district committees, saving $2,100, or cutting $5,000 from Scarbrough's travel budget.

But others will be harder to ignore.

The School Board is look- ing at eliminating two elementary school teaching positions and one half-time kindergarten teaching position, which will increase average kindergarten class sizes to about 20.

Portions of high school language, art and physical education classes and media center staff also could go.

"We will still be offering outstanding opportunities to our students, though there will be fewer of them," Scarbrough said.

There has been intense community interest in the possible reductions, and community uproar has already saved the school orchestra and high school golf teams from being cut. But with a deficit that size, something has to go.

Sue Karp has taught the gifted and talented program within the district for 26 years. After she retires this year, the district doesn't plan to fill her full-time position.

Instead, more money will be diverted toward after-school gifted and talented programs such as Knowledge Bowl and the Destination Imagination competition, and away from in-school programs like Junior Great Books. Karp thinks that's a mistake.

"After school, there are so many other choices students have," Karp said. She is afraid programs that promote higher-level thinking will lose out against other activities.

PROCTOR

Proctor foreign language instructor Diane Wippler also is unhappy about the future of her district's programs.

For the past 34 years, Wippler has taught four levels of German at Proctor High School. Next year, though, entry-level German won't be offered, and the entire program will be phased out in a few years. Wippler will teach English instead of preparing students for exchange trips to Germany.

About 75 students study German in the Proctor schools this year, Wippler said.

The Proctor school district is eyeing cuts of about $600,000 from its $16.1 million budget this year -- after making $1 million in reductions last year and watching as its proposed operating levy failed in November.

"The public told us what they wanted and didn't want to do (when the levy failed), so when people ask, 'Why can't we do this?' and 'Why can't we do that?' my response is rather pointed," said Proctor Superintendent Diane Rauschenfels.

The district hopes to make more cuts by not filling open positions and making some accounting changes, Rauschenfels said.

HERMANTOWN

The financial picture is quite a bit brighter in the Hermantown school district, said business director Patrick Chaffey.

The district doesn't plan to make any budget cuts for next year, though it is in a deficit-spending mode, Chaffey said. Instead, the district will draw upon its undesignated fund balance to make up an estimated $84,000 shortfall.

It's the first time in about five years the district hasn't made any cuts, Chaffey said.

While that avoids the pain of budget reductions, it also takes the plump out of the protective financial cushion school districts like to have, he said.

An ideal undesignated fund balance is about 10 percent of a district's budget. In Hermantown, that would be about $1.4 million. But after tapping the fund for $347,000 this year and about $84,000 for the 2006-07 school year, Chaffey estimated the district's fund balance will be about $900,000.

LAKE SUPERIOR

The Lake Superior school district needs to make about $1 million in reductions from its $14.5 million budget, said interim Superintendent Jim Schwartz.

The list of possible cuts within the district is long and varied, including skimming 10 percent off the high school athletics budget, for a savings of $16,000, to eliminating two teachers at the Minnehaha Elementary School in Two Harbors, and cutting part of the French program at the William Kelley High School in Silver Bay.

Some of the cuts are particularly jarring, as they are made against the backdrop of the brand-new Two Harbors High School.

But when the district expects to lose about 70 students next year, there's not much they can do but make budget cuts, Schwartz said.

"We tried to stay away from students as much as we could" when cutting the budget, Schwartz said. "But there are some significant cuts in classroom teaching."

The Lake Superior School Board also might consider asking the community to approve an operating levy next year, Schwartz said. The district is one of just a handful in the state that does not have a current operating levy, he said.

"That's something that will probably be a high priority for the new superintendent," Schwartz said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Duluth News-Tribune, Minn.

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Source: Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, Minn.)

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