Rising costs put pinch on 2 school districts

St. Louis Park school board member Rolf Peterson, who's served on the board for four years, said he has yet to see a year when the district didn't have to weather significant budget cuts.

"We've just always been in that mode," Peterson said. "We've trimmed our budgets every year I've been on the board."

As Minnesota school districts prepare to receive a 1 percent increase in state funding, two of the smallest districts in the west metro area, St. Louis Park and Richfield, are planning community meetings and resident surveys to explain possible reductions to their 2008-09 budgets. They say the state fund increase is not enough to keep up with inflation. St. Louis Park is anticipating $1.4 million in cuts, the equivalent of 3 percent of its budget. Richfield is expecting to cut between $1.3 million and $2 million, or as much as 4 percent of its budget.

"If you look at inflation, on average it's about 2 or 3 percent," said Michael Schwartz, Richfield school district's business manager. "If you look at utilities and health insurance, those costs are going up more than average."

More than 4,200 students attend St. Louis Park schools, and more than 4,100 student attend Richfield's. Both districts have grappled with relatively flat or declining enrollment in recent years. Last year, St. Louis Park cut more than $600,000 from its budget, and two years ago Richfield reduced spending by more than $900,000. Schwartz said further cuts are necessary in order for the Richfield district to absorb potential revenue losses related to lower-than-expected enrollment, as well as other reasons.

St. Louis Park

Earlier this month, St. Louis Park held budget presentations at its junior high school, and now the district hopes residents will visit its website to complete a survey that asks for feedback about the district's programs. St. Louis Park's recent internal audit of its 2006-07 budget revealed several areas, including special education tuition and transportation costs, where expenses have exceeded revenue by more than $1.1 million. Peterson said the St. Louis Park school board expects to receive recommendations from the administration in March or early April about areas where reductions can be made. State rules stipulate that districts' final budgets must be in place by July 1.

"This gives us time to involve the community," Peterson said of the community sessions. "You really have to have time for people to consider this."

St. Louis Park Superintendent Debra Bowers said administrators also will meet with staff members at each building in February to review various programs.

Richfield

Richfield will hold a final information session in February, and Superintendent Barbara Devlin will accept feedback about budget priorities via e-mail through Feb. 4. The school board expects to make a decision in March. On the potential for cuts to reach as much as $2 million, Schwartz said, "We're hoping that would be the worst-case scenario."

Patrice Relerford • 612-673-4395

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