To view the entire June 8 School Board meeting online, or to view select a specific agenda item to view online, go to Panther TV on the website home page or click here.   BUDGET UPDATE 2010-2011 Budget Approved The School Board approved the 2010-2011 budget. Prior to approving the budget, Amy Schultz, director of business services, and Denise Waalen, director of education services, gave a presentation that you can view if you click here.

She said that this year’s per pupil funding was the same as last year, that there was once again no increase. There were also funding shifts resulting in less net revenue for the current school year than the district received in 2008-2009. In addition, she said, “we have also experienced decreasing levels of reimbursement for various programs, including special education and extended time revenue, while also seeing increasing levels of needed services.”

Schultz said that for 2009-10 the district made $1.5 million in budget cuts and modifications; none at the classroom level, and virtually none at the school level. Reductions were made in previous years that were also kept from the school and classroom level.

She told Board members that for 2010-11 the district is making $2.3 million in budget cuts and modifications, and that “while it was impossible to keep this level of cuts from the schools, as a percentage of the budget they were held to a much lower level of cuts than other programs and departments.

Budget reductions and modifications incorporated into the 2010-11 budget were:

In her presentation, she said:

• The State continues to face a significant deficit, flat funding for education, at best, is expected to continue

• The school district made budget reductions of $1.5 million in spring 2009, $2.3 million in spring 2010, and anticipates further reductions of $1.7 million in spring 2011.

• The challenge we face is effectively meeting the needs of our students while at the same time having a model we can sustain over time given limited, declining resources

• Modifications to middle school and high school schedules would result in significant reductions in school district expenditures, while at the same time providing educational benefits. Like any change, there would be positive and potential negative implications we need to plan for.

• Spring Lake Park High School currently has a seven-period-day over three trimesters. Westwood Middle School currently has a modified block schedule (four-period day).

• Our options are limited. We have already made structural changes at the elementary level by reconfiguring our grade levels. This has resulted in annual savings of more than $2 million, allowing us to maintain effective instructional programming and class sizes. In order to realize the same savings we can achieve with a switch to a six-period day at the high school and middle school level, we would need to raise class size allocation ratios (currently at 31 at the middle school and 31.4 at the high school) by an estimated six students

• The most common model implemented across the metro area is the six-period day. Many districts have utilized this structure effectively for many years, including the neighboring districts of Mounds View (Mounds View High School and Irondale High School) and Fridley. Other districts currently implementing this model include: White Bear Lake, Edina, Minnetonka, No. St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale (North St. Paul and Tartan), Mahtomedi, Stillwater, Richfield, Osseo School District (Maple Grove, Champlin Park and others), South Washington County (Park, Woodbury, East Ridge), Lakeville (North and South).

• Districts currently implementing the seven- or four-period day, planning to move to a six-period day Fall 2011 include: Centennial, Prior Lake, and the Bloomington High Schools (Jefferson and Kennedy). Anoka-Hennepin implemented a five-period day at their high schools in Fall 2009

• Planning is now underway and regular updates will be provided to the School Board, parents, and community members throughout the process

Denise Waalen reviewed the Q Comp Plan, which was initially proposed by Governor Pawlenty and enacted by the Legislature in July 2005. She said it was a voluntary program that allows local districts and exclusive representatives of the teachers to design a plan that meets the five components of the law, and that approved school districts receive up to $26 per student ($169 per student in state aid and $91 per student in Board-approved levy) for the program.

Currently, 44 Minnesota school districts and 31 charter schools have implemented programs.

In a vote by the membership of Spring Lake Park Teachers United, she said, “just shy of 80 percent of Spring Lake Park School District’s teachers voted positively for the plan.”

Dr. Jeff Ronneberg, superintendent, said that getting to the point of having a successful approval by our teachers to implement QComp has been a long journey, but a positive one. Teacher leaders from across the district have been instrumental over the past six years in developing our current Learning Community Framework, which defines the day to day work of our teachers, principals, and other staff that we believe makes a difference in improving student learning. Their work on this over time has resulted in a QComp application that provides a virtually seamless transition.

“While the work has been going on for six years,” he said, “there was a lot of work that went into putting our district’s application to the Minnesota Department of Education together, and then effectively communicating this plan to our teaching staff so they really understand what it means for them. I’d like to thank Denise for her leadership, as well as the efforts of our teachers who developed the application, shared the plan with teachers, and answered teacher questions. They are Jim Stern, our union president, and Doug Cox, Mary Barnette, and Melissa Hardie. They spent many hours working on this and I am extremely grateful for their efforts. In addition, district staff who were involved included Jerelyne Nemanich, Jennifer Kunze, Tom Larson, Stacey Sovine, and Amy Schultz.”

In his Superintendent’s Report, Dr. Ronneberg said: “As a reminder to the community, in March the school district awarded new bus transportation contracts following an open bid process, for the 2010-2011 school year. These contracts were awarded to two bus companies located within district boundaries. Lorenz, located in Blaine, will provide regular to and from school routes on a daily basis. Voigt’s, located in Fridley, will provide special education routes.” First Student and and Movin’ On have been providing these services. A&M Busing, in Anoka, will continue to provide buses for field trips.

Ronneberg said “We are excited about the new business relationships we have entered with these high quality local bus companies. These new contracts allow us to work with highly respected companies, resulting in what we believe will be more effective service to our internal staff, as well as our parents and students. We are also able to do this more efficiently, with nearly $150,000 in savings with these new contracts.”

He said the administration believes that these changes will result in improved service, as well as cost savings. He also said he hoped that many of the First Student bus drivers would pursue employment with Lorenz or Voigt’s.

The group shared the school’s vision: We are a collaborative community committed to the continuous learning and high achievement of all stakeholders, as well as their over-arching goals aligned with district initiatives: