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Representatives from four northern school districts brought their concerns before members of the Iron Range Resources Board on Dec. 13 and left with legislators’ vows to seek relief for them but no guarantees. School districts represented at the session included St. Louis County, Ely, Lake Superior and Cook County.

“I don’t think anybody came into the room with expectations set so high that we were going to solve their problems,” said Sen. Tom Bakk. “But it was a good chance for people to share some of their issues.”

The Cook DFLer added that getting a dialogue flowing between legislators and school officials was the main reason that he and fellow legislator, Rep. David Dill, DFL-Crane Lake, called the meeting.

“We’re aware that they have challenges,” said Bakk. “Part of it was an opportunity to express to them that we have challenges, too.” Leading those challenges is the state’s projected budget deficit. The state forecasts a $373 million shortfall this biennium and anticipates the gap will widen to $1.2 billion by 2010.

Even so, several ideas for helping financially-strapped districts were floated during a freewheeling discussion that ran for just over two hours.

One suggestion was to provide districts with the ability to levy separately for buses, instead of having to use general operating funds for bus replacements.

With buses costing between $70,000 to $80,000 annually, several districts said they’ve fallen behind on their replacement schedules for buses. They also noted that under the current arrangement, buses compete for the same dollars as textbooks, computers and other educational materials.

Another proposal, voiced by Ron Dicklich, would be to protect schools with declining enrollments by not allowing funding to slip below a specific level for at least two years. Setting a temporary base would give districts more time and the resources to adjust to changes in enrollment, he said.

Cyndi Ryder, who is serving her first term on the Lake Superior School Board, embraced that idea. “When we lose 30 students, it isn’t all in one grade,” she said. “They leave across the entire spectrum of classes. Our costs don’t go down just because our enrollment does.”

Excess levies

School districts’ growing dependence on excess operating levies to cover their basic costs was another topic of discussion.

Darrell Bjerklie, who represents Cherry on the St. Louis County School Board, said the reliance on operating levies has undermined equality in education across the state. “It’s creating a two-tiered education system,” said Bjerklie, whose district has failed twice to pass an excess levy.

The Lake Superior District has also failed twice to pass an operating levy. “We’re trying to keep a school open with bake sales,” lamented Lake Superior School Board member David Rossetter.

Bakk said the state could provide more funds for schools if it eliminated tax cuts provided for the state’s wealthiest. “That alone would bring in $1 billion more to the state,” he said. Another option would be to expand the state sales tax to clothing and services. Bakk said the ramifications on the poor could be eased somewhat by lowering the tax from its current rate of 6.5 percent to five or 5.5 percent.

But the senator doesn’t expect Gov. Tim Pawlenty to warm to either proposal. “This is the most risk-averse governor that I have ever seen,” said Bakk, who said Pawlenty has trained his sights on a run for national office and won’t do anything that might hurt his profile with the Republican Party’s no-new-taxes crowd.

As an alternative, Bakk suggested creating an incentive to encourage more local support for school levies.

“I think there are a large number of seniors who don’t want to vote ‘no’ on those levies, but don’t feel they can afford to support them,” said Bakk. He proposed offering seniors the opportunity to volunteer in their schools in exchange for forgiveness of their share of the school levy.

School officials, however, cited several obstacles including union opposition to jobs that might be filled by senior volunteers and the impact that the loss of tax revenue from seniors would have on the overall levy.

Bakk also questioned whether the districts had made clear the risks involved if excess levies failed. He noted that following the failure of the levy in District 2142, Superintendent Charles Rick said in an interview that none of the district’s seven schools would be closed.

“That just reaffirms that no matter what, they’re going to have a school,” said Bakk. “I think people don’t make really hard decisions or pull money out of their wallets unless they’ve got some skin in it.”

Superintendent Rick said his comments underscored the fact the board would not be making any snap judgments, but would consider the overall picture carefully before acting. The larger question, he said, is whether the district’s current makeup is effective.

In addition, Rick noted that some students already travel significant distances to schools and closing a school could add greatly to some students’ travel time.

Bakk countered that that is part of the problem. “We’re letting parents guide the decision of where schools are located,” he said, noting that the system was subsidizing those who choose to make their homes remote from larger communities.

Tough choices

Loss of students through open enrollment and home schooling was also discussed, although no solutions were offered.

Ely’s interim Superintendent Ed Anderson said his district plans to open enroll Fall Lake students. Those students now attend classes at Ely under an arrangement with the Lake Superior District which pays tuition for students and supplies transportation. Anderson said he already has forms signed by students who want to open enroll in Ely and the district will be purchasing a bus to transport students.

“We know it’s going to hurt Lake Superior,” he acknowledged. “But the state of Minnesota promotes choice and if they don’t want school districts to look at their boundaries and service kids, then they should get rid of that choice.”

Anderson said Ely is also considering providing transportation for Babbitt-Embarrass students to attend classes in Ely. He said the district was approached about the option by a Babbitt parent. “If we have a sufficient number — a dozen kids — we’ll provide transportation,” said Anderson.

Rep. Dill concluded that districts need to take a hard look at the type of education that they’re able to offer and whether the resources they receive are used just to keep schools open or to provide the type of challenging curriculum students need to succeed.

“Some gut-wrenching decisions have to be made,” said Dill. “It seems to me that we’re just spiraling down and it would be better to make decisions to change now rather than later.”

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