Schools chief sees innovation, challenge

Jeff Ronneberg, 42, took over as superintendent of Spring Lake Park schools beginning Jan. 1. In succeeding Don Helmstetter, who retired at the end of last year, Ronneberg takes the helm of a north suburban district with 4,600 students.

It's a district wrapping up a construction phase that involved major renovations to all five schools and the building of a new elementary school. That was made possible by a $96 million bond issue approved by voters in 2006.

Ronneberg also inherits a district that, like most, is facing big financial challenges. Over the next two years, it will have to cut $4 million in expenses. Compounding matters is the delayed payment of a significant portion of state aid, which has forced the district to borrow money to meet expenses. That borrowing has cost it up to $250,000 in interest payments this year alone.

A 12-year district administrator, Ronneberg grew up in Willmar, where his father still teaches high school math. Last week, he spoke with the Star Tribune about his new job. This question-and-answer interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q Your districtwide school renovation project is almost done. What do you think?

A A lot of [other school districts] have been able to update this school or that school. One nice thing is that the recent bond referendum led to each and every one of our classrooms in the district being updated. So we don't have kids at one end of the district going to substandard schools and other kids going to a brand-new school. They're all really high-quality classrooms and learning environments throughout the district.

Q What else is going on in the district?

Q How does that work?

A We've had instructional coaches in each of the buildings, so that the teachers have the support in doing this. ... It's not about if you have 30 kids in your class having 30 separate assignments. It might be that you're differentiating the content for groups of kids where their learning needs are. You might be differentiating the products, you might have three or four different ways that the kids might demonstrate their learning. So you're looking at different ways you can meet the kids' needs.

Q What else?

A Online [education] is expanding rapidly. People are choosing that, so that's something we're looking at, is how do we get in front of that? We do have online courses at our high school, but we have some teachers that are really interested in looking at developing some courses that are a combination of online and in-class, and things like that. We have to make sure that's another option because that's something that kids want to take advantage of.

Q What are some of the challenges facing you?

Q Presumably, you will have to cut teachers if you're going to be making budget adjustments totaling $4 million over the next two years.

A Correct.

Q Do you know how many? Is there any recommendation for budget cuts ready for the school board?

A Not yet. That's the process we're in the midst of right now. Between now through March we're going to be putting those plans together.

Q How did teacher contract negotiations work out?

Q How do you solve these financial problems that seem to cause school districts to lurch from crisis to crisis?

A One of the things we're trying to look at is not to do just the cyclical cut-add-cut-again-add-back, but look at what are those cost drivers, the systems and structures we have in place, that led to our current situation. We need to take a hard look at those and look at where can we do some work differently. One of the things we did four or five years ago was reconfigure our elementary schools from four K-5 elementary schools to three K-3s and a 4-5. It's much more efficient. Now, just like other [districts] across the metro area have been looking at their middle school and high school structures, we're going to have to take a look at those, as well.

Q Does that save money in the sense that you need fewer teachers and administrators?

A Yeah, and that's the sad thing. It's people's jobs and that's not what we want to have to do, but we have to look at what are the options for kids.

Q is there a referendum coming up?