Farmington schools face budget cuts

Cutting all middle school athletics. Increasing class sizes in most grades. Eliminating fifth-grade band.

Those are all cuts the Farmington school district is considering to resolve a $700,000 projected shortfall in the 2015-2016 school year budget. But the proposals are frustrating residents and even school board members, who question the items on the chopping block and how quickly decisions are being made.

"That's what's kind of startling," said parent Kyle Christensen. "The budget — it just seems to have come out of nowhere."

Administrators, the school board and residents are weighing a list of possible cuts, with the exact reductions to be decided by the end of March. Two community meetings were held last week and another is scheduled for Tuesday.

Superintendent Jay Haugen attributes much of the budget shortfall to Gov. Mark Dayton's 1-percent budget increase in the general funding formula for school districts. The meager increase doesn't keep pace with inflation, he said, and the district was hoping for more money.

"You know, our whole world, and whether or not we have a balanced budget, is determined so strongly by what the policymakers do," he said.

School Board Member Melissa Sauser said she's been aware of projected budget issues for several years, but didn't know until recently about the specific cuts proposed.

The district hasn't asked voters to approve an operating levy increase for eight years, Haugen said.

Cuts for the 2016-17 year have also been suggested. Those could mean fewer kindergarten aides, larger classes and no ninth-grade sports. That budget, however, won't be voted on until next year.

Haugen said district administrators proposed the list of cuts as "something to react to." They included items that wouldn't harm the district's strategic plan and "things that the school district can mitigate," he said.

While elementary-level band and middle school sports might be cut, for instance, the programs could still be offered by community education or another community group. Another cut — limiting team transportation to athletic games to one-way — could be eased if parents arranged rides home from games, he said.

"Right now, I think it's a very reasonable list," Haugen said.

"I don't believe those items should be on the table," she said.

It's good that the district is looking at other options to continue those programs, she said, but they should cut costs by finding tasks currently done by teachers, like recess supervision, and have nonlicensed staff or volunteers do them instead.

For parents like Heather Bergstrom, class size increases — under the proposal, all classes in grades two through five and nine through 12 would increase by one student — would be the most problematic change.

Bergstrom said second-grade classes already have 25 or 26 kids and it's "really scary" to think about bigger classes.

Christensen, who has two children in elementary school, said he thinks more cuts should be made to administration, rather than academics.

"We're at the point now where there's nowhere left to cut without affecting the classroom," said Tera Lee, board member.

Many residents also questioned whether the current belt-tightening was related to a possible referendum the district has been discussing. Some wondered whether threats of cuts were being used to convince the community a referendum is needed.

"I would like to think it's not [being timed intentionally], but I feel like it is," said Bergstrom.

Even if the district decides to hold a referendum in November, Haugen countered, that won't fix the 2015-2016 budget.

Bergstrom said there's a lot of anger among parents about the district's decision to start a new school, called Gateway Academy, last year when so many cuts are necessary now.

Sauser said she believes the district should start looking at education differently if it wants to avoid big cuts in the future. That might include more flexible learning days, where students learn from home on their district-issued iPads. Or, she said, it could also mean encouraging kids to learn at their own pace using technology with teachers as guides, which is part of Gateway's philosophy.

"It's time to look at this crisis and move it into an opportunity," she said.