Last month the Minnesota legislature gave a little extra money to schools in the state. A whopping four percent increase over last year’s funding, but it’s the first increase in four years, so we’ll take it. Kimball schools had conservatively budgeted for a two percent increase. For weeks now Superintendent Scott Thielman has been working the figures to see what the increase means for Kimball schools – and what programs, cut to prevent serious deficit, may be restored. Kimball will receive an additional $225,000 in school funding for this coming school year. That’s $251 per pupil unit, including an extra $56 in “equity aid revenue” to compensate for a severe underfunding. Only nine school districts in Minnesota received less per-student funding than Kimball. This “equity aid revenue” was available only to the five percent of Minnesota’s schools that were worst funded. Dr. Thielman presented these figures to the school board at its meeting last week. He also made his suggestions on where that $225,000 should go. No action was taken by the board, but decisions are expected at its next meeting Aug. 25. Here is how it breaks down. o $85,000 was anticipated for this year’s budget, so the “extra” is really about $143,000. o That $143,000 should first be applied to deficits: $57,194 for last year and an anticipated $16,637 for this coming year. That leaves roughly $69,000 to restore programs. o A .75 position could be added to help with core subjects in the fourth grade, alleviating the high class size in that grade. o Seventh- and eighth-grade reading assistance could be returned. o The remaining money could restore C-squad sports teams, speech and one-act play, leaving about $20,000. o There would not be enough left to restore junior high activities, a high school principal or a librarian. However, Dr. Thielman recommends using remaining funds to partially restore junior high activities, with the balance needed coming from community fundraisers already under way. “Our goal is to return as many programs as possible,” Thielman said. “But we’ll still need a referendum (for next year). Enrollment figures for 2005-06 are on-target, with 791 students expected. That’s 12 student units fewer than in 2004-05. It’s anticipated that 2006-07 will bring a further reduction of 24 student units. (Student units, or pupil units, are the state’s way to fund students in different grades differently. A kindergarten student counts as half, for instance, and a high school senior counts as just more than one.) These enrollment figures are slightly better than anticipated last spring, and rumors of scores of students fleeing to other schools are unfounded. The next school board meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, in the board room (northwest corner of the high school). These meetings are open to the public.
