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District breathes sigh of relief before moving on
12/4/2008 12:00 AM

Dave DeMars, Waite Park Newsleader

Elections are over. Candidates won and lost various political seats, but the most important issues were often things that voters decided on directly. Like whether they were willing to pay a bit more to make sure their sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters had the opportunity to get a first-rate education.

There were more than 300 levy referendums where schools appealed directly to the voters for needed funds.

In District 742, the appeal came in three questions. Only the first question passed.

“We are so thankful the first question was passed,” said Superintendent Steve Jordahl. “That will keep us from making some of those drastic cuts we talked about.

Jordahl said the next two years will be tenuous at best. It depends a great deal on what the legislature chooses to do. And from the sounds rumbling down in St. Paul, the state budget is not exactly flush with funds.

“They may say zero and zero leaving us with more choices to make again,”

Jordahl said, “but at least we're not going to be making $4.5 million in cuts based on a failed referendum.”

One of the things that will be done in the near future in preparation for next year is to study transportation so the district can go back to the one-mile pick-up limit. That is going to be a top priority.

Along with that is a review if there is a better way to lay out boundaries for the elementary schools. The buildings presently in operation are going to continue operating and for Jordahl, that is a good thing.

“Had we failed, we would have had to look at drastic boundary changes,” he said.

There will still be some consideration as to whether sixth-grade students might be better served in junior high or middle schools.

The district will look for recommendations from the advisory board as to fee increases for activities or ticket-price increases for generating revenue, but right now, that is in the future.

Other areas that will have to be looked at for tweaking include the cycle for replacement of equipment and books.

“The funding never seems to align with the increases in cost of things,” Jordahl said. “A football helmet could cost a lot more next year than this year.”

Curriculum cycles are still in place and regular textbook replacements will continue on schedule, but it will mean careful use of funds across the board.

“Right now we're working on a state-of-the-district report and the excellence in accountablility report so we make sure we continue to be transparent with our achievement and finances and everything else,” Jordahl said.

Otherwise the district is glad to get back to “normal” and focus on its key mission - educating students.

http://www.thenewsleaders.com/articles/2008/12/04/waite_park/news/news5.txt