Written by Mallory Paine
Along with districts statewide, South Washington County Schools has made major budget cuts for the upcoming school year.
As student enrollment declined by about 500 students during the pandemic, causing the district to lose about $5 million, the school board approved reducing next year’s budget by about $18 million -- the most drastic adjustment since 2015, District 833 Director of Finance Dan Pyan said.
South Washington County is not alone in decreased enrollment. Statewide, public school enrollment has dropped by 2%, causing districts statewide to make similar cuts. Districts are waiting to see if the recently announced $1.6 billion state surplus could alleviate their budgets going forward, according to the Minnesota School Boards Association.
Beginning next year, a number of programs and staffing levels will be reduced across elementary, middle and high schools. Major changes include: cutting band and orchestra from the elementary level, eliminating media specialists from middle and high schools, increasing middle and high school class sizes and closing the Nuevas Fronteras and Woodbury Middle School pools. Parking permits at the high schools will also increase by $20 per trimester.
After a lot of back and forth between community members and the school board, the board ultimately decided against closing Crestview Elementary School, though there is a possibility of the cut coming back in the future if the budget does not improve. The board also decided to cut the reading recovery program budget in half, instead of cutting the entire program.
“These decisions aren’t easy and there are a lot of factors that go into making the choices that we do,” said School Board Director Simi Patniak. “We have an obligation to our community to manage the money that we have and manage it responsibly.”
The district tried to keep as many cuts outside of the classroom as possible. They also looked at the cost, capital cost, and the amount of technology needed for each program, Pyan said.
When enrollment and funding increases in the future, it is possible for many of these programs to come back again. The two middle school pools are scheduled only to be closed for the 2021-2022 school year. When the district has a stable amount of funding, elementary band and orchestra has a possibility of coming back, School Board Chair Tracy Brunnette said. In the meantime, the district is working on creating a program for elementary school students to be able to learn an instrument, most likely through community education.
“We are going to be working with the teachers to decide what does this new world looks like in elementary music,” Brunnette said. “The reality is, yes orchestra and band is going away as it was, but it does not mean that it won't be back in a new form.”
