The South Koochiching-Rainy River School Board on Wednesday approved an operating referendum request to be listed on the ballot this November during their regular meeting.
“We don’t have specifics yet, but we’ll be going to the voters in November to authorize a levy for funding through an operating referendum,” Superintendent Jerry Struss told The Journal. “In that ballot, there will be a limit of how much the district can levy from taxpayers, but that all has to be approved by voters.”
If approved by taxpayers, the referendum would instate an extra levy to add funds to the district’s general fund. The amount of the levy has not been decided, but the action aims to aid a projected $379,000 budget deficit in the expenditure budget this school year, according to Struss. The revised fiscal year 2012 budget showing the deficit was presented to the board during the meeting.
“We’ve had deficit spending in our expenditure budget annually over the last few years,” Struss told The Journal. “Our expenditure budget has been higher than our revenue budget.”
The district does not have a cash flow problem because of funding in reserves, Struss said.
A unique opportunity with the levy, he added, is that placing a levy would also increase state aid to the district. Extra state aid comes with the levy to qualifying school districts, depending on the property values of those residing within the district.
“We get more aid if we have a lower property value,” Struss explained. “That’s very true in our property values in South Koochiching — compared to most other districts in Minnesota.”
Should the levy pass, he said, state aid would increase significantly.
Taking the total funds needed to offset the budget deficit, 45 percent would come from the levy and 55 percent would come from the state.
“We’ve been considering several options, and the operating referendum option was attractive because of the state aid that follows,” Struss said. “It more than doubles the levy amount.”
In other business, a district literacy plan for kindergarten through third grade was approved. According to state law, all districts must come up with a literacy plan that aims to have all students in the state reading at third-grade level by the time they finish third grade.
In personnel business, staff resignations and retirements will result in a shift of faculty assignments this coming school year at both Indus and Northome schools.
The board approved the resignation for retirement of David Furuseth, Northome fourth-grade teacher. The same was approved for Northome physical education teacher Mike Lorenzen.
As a result, positions in Northome will shift and there will be a Title I teacher opening and a physical education teacher opening for grades kindergarten through 12th grade for the coming school year.
Indus teacher Sara Wendt is moving from teaching kindergarten to teaching sixth-grade next year. A kindergarten teacher opening will be available for the 2012-13 school year.
Additionally, an adjustment to the Indus art teacher position will add a period of teaching to five class periods out of seven per day. The art teacher, Lisa Simon, currently teaches four class periods each day.
The board approved an Indus School trip to Italy and Greece this summer; eight students plan to participate. A Northome School trip to Spain and France for three students was also approved.
A team of students attending Northome qualified for the 2012 Minnesota State Envirothon, an environmental learning contest. The board approved the team’s trip to Savage for the competition taking place May 21.
