Schools seek money during tough times

Physics teacher Steve Elliott spent Monday morning watching over 36 students as they shot projectiles in a lab at Eagan High School.

Eagan High physics classes, which have about two more students each than they did last fall, are among many south-metro classrooms where teachers say higher class sizes are taking a subtle but real toll.

Elliott's classroom had only eight launchers, so students had to do their experiment in groups of four or five. To save space, a few students sat at lab tables instead of desks. Elliott has more tests to grade, and less time with each student.

Student numbers crept up in many classes because of budget cuts this year in the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school district. "I think it takes a little away from each kid's experience," Elliott said.

If voters don't approve a local tax increase for schools, district leaders say another bump in class sizes is likely, along with other budget cuts.

Rosemount, Lakeville, Cannon Falls and West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan are among 77 school districts statewide that will propose operating levies to voters during the Nov. 2 elections.

For all, a state budget deficit of nearly $6 billion looms large. For many, this fall's levy requests come after several rounds of budget cuts.

An elementary school could close, he said. The team structure of middle-school classes could be dismantled. Fifth-grade band and "Early Bird" high school classes offered before the regular school day would be at risk. Between 150 and 175 jobs would probably be eliminated.

The district might also increase fees for activities by 150 percent, he said. That would mean a student on the boys' basketball team would pay $700 instead of $280 to play, for example.

Seeking maximum levy

Both Rosemount and West St. Paul propose to levy the maximum allowed under state law, joining a handful of districts that already do.

That may not be enough to avert some cuts, said Rosemount Superintendent Jane Berenz.

But cuts are likely to be much steeper if voters reject the levy proposal, Berenz said. In that case, the district will probably have to eliminate about 200 jobs, reduce bus service and make further program cuts, she said.

"Our long-term financial health is dependent on the state," she added. "There is only so much a local levy referendum can do, but this referendum could help us in the short term."

District leaders in Lakeville also expect to make some cuts -- though far fewer -- even if voters approve additional funding. That could be true in West St. Paul, too, said Superintendent Jay Haugen.

Cuts are getting closer to the classroom, he said.

Staff compensation accounts for about 80 percent of the district's budget, and the school board already has sliced $5.9 million in the past five years. "There's little else that we spend money on, other than people," Haugen said.

This fall's elections come three years after voters in both Lakeville and West St. Paul renewed levies but rejected requests for additional funds. In Lakeville, one question failed by 12 votes.

This year, the vote could be close again on at least one of three Lakeville school ballot questions.

A survey done in September showed strong support for two questions: A levy renewal, and a one-year technology levy.

The third request, which will appear as Question 2 on the ballot, proposes a tax increase that was less popular. It proposes additional levy authority of $524 per pupil, which would mean a tax hike of $299 on an average Lakeville home. In the survey, 44 percent of residents said they would support the increase, while 47 percent said they were opposed.

This fall, "I think, for the most part, residents believe that the district has need," said Bob Erickson, who volunteered with a group that campaigned against the 2007 proposal. "They're just expressing concerns about their own budgets, their personal ability to afford the increase."