Although there are some questions about the West End townships’ funding of the Birch Grove Community School, a productive meeting was held to discuss the issue on Tuesday, March 17. Another question facing the charter school now is what will happen to this building, the Outdoor Classroom adjacent to the school.
The Birch Grove Community School (BGCS) board of directors met on Tuesday, March 17, inviting Lutsen, Tofte and Schroeder officials to join them in discussion about the funding request made by the school at township annual meetings on March 10, 2015.
Schroeder Supervisor Tina McKeever and Tofte Supervisor Paul James were at the meeting to hear what the township had learned about payments and/or donations to townships. BGCS Board Member Judy Motschenbacher distributed a letter sent to Senator Tom Bakk and Representative David Dill from Kent Sulem, general counsel and director of government relations for the Minnesota Association of Townships (MAT).
“Apparently, several people have been contacting them,” said Motschenbacher. “Hopefully this response will clarify things so the school and the townships can carry on.”
In his three-page letter to legislators, Sulem said the appearance of “conflicting answers” from MAT reflected correct answers to slightly different scenarios in the questions being asked. Sulem said he was responding to both Bakk and Dill in hopes of reducing confusion. The first question, said Sulem, is “Can a town make a general donation to a charter school?”
The answer, wrote Sulem, is yes, provided the charter school is operating under Minnesota Statute Chapter 124D or receives direct state funding. If that is true, Sulem said Minnesota Statute 471.84 “allows a town to transfer, with or without compensation, personnel property to other public corporation, including school districts. Cash is considered personal property…”
Motschenbacher said that BGCS does operate under the state statute cited and does receive state funding.
Sulem’s letter said in that case, “…the town board could, under its own authority, make a cash donation of any size to the school as a school district. Approval is not required at the annual town meeting. In fact, any action at the annual meeting would be purely advisory under this provision of law.”
Regarding the BGCS request for funding of $20,000 for five years, Sulem wrote, “Ideally, each transfer would be stand alone as a single transfer and not as one made over multiple payments or even years… However, it may be possible for the town to enter into a longer term contract to pay, but such a contract would need to be in writing, be very clear on terms and conditions, and should only be entered into after both sides have worked directly with their own attorney.”
Sulem said he had also been asked if other statutes could be used to authorize some sort of funding to BGCS. Sulem gave four examples of how donations could be made to the school—through the transfer or lease of real estate; by providing recreational services; through expenditures to support facilities or programs for senior citizen or youth centers; or through expenditures to support artistic organizations.
Sulem wrote, “There are several other statutes authorizing contributions for such things as emergency services to civic educational purposes. It would take several more pages to identify each authorized expenditure and the conditions attached to it.
“The bottom line is that the Minnesota Association of Townships tries to offer the broad guidance a town needs, but each township must determine whether a specific request fits into one of the authorized expenditure categories, and if so, what limits and requirements must be met before the town writes a check. Sometimes the answer is not crystal clear and a town must make its own judgement call taking into account not only whatever available advice is available, but also its own comfort level for risk.”
Tofte Supervisor James repeated what he said at the March 10 annual meeting. “They don’t talk about setting up a levy. That is my question, whether the town can levy or not. It doesn’t matter, this shows that there are apparently ways around that. I’m comfortable moving ahead with this, but I would like that question answered.
“Ideally,” said James, “I’d like to see a line item on our levy to support Birch Grove with a notation of where the funding is coming from. “
Schroeder Supervisor McKeever agreed. “That was one of our questions as well,” she said.
McKeever said she would like to see all three townships meet to discuss the issue. “I’d like us to try to all be on the same page.”
Outdoor Classroom ownership concerns
Diane Blanchette noted that when BGCS offered the Outdoor Classroom for sale to the Town of Tofte, supervisors had questions about the ownership of the building, stating that the building may already belong to the township.
Blanchette shared a letter with questions from the Tofte board about construction of the building and lease agreements. Blanchette told the BGCS board that the school and MN Department of Education has documentation to prove ownership of the structure. She said all school audits reflect the Outdoor Classroom as an asset since it was built.
She added, “I would rather that Tofte puts in the time to prove that they own it and provide documentation to their lawyer. If the township really believes they have a valid claim, the school would be happy to answer any questions from Ms. Maloney [the township attorney] concerning said documented claim.
“I see no reason for the school to hire a lawyer at this point,” said Blanchette.
Outgoing staff, new board members
The board passed unanimous motions to appoint new members to the BGCS board of directors. The first is a Birch Grove parent, Sarena Nelson. The second is Diane Blanchette, who has resigned from her position as director of BGCS, effective March 1. Blanchette stressed that her appointment to the school board was temporary. She would be serving only until September 2015.
Blanchette is also offering her services as a volunteer to train the person who is taking over as BGCS director, Celeste Sigmund. Blanchette is also assisting with the BGCS charter school sponsorship renewal with Volunteers of America (VOA). The board expressed appreciation to Blanchette for her work with VOA for the last 10 years.
In other Tofte Township business
. Diane Blanchette said “Offer Letters” would be going out to BGCS staff soon. She said the school will likely offer the same wages, however, positions filled by various staff members may change due to class sizes and student needs.
. The fundraising committee said planning has begun for the annual “Gala for the Grove” dinner fundraiser. This year’s event will be held May 9.
. The school calendar for 2015-2016 was discussed and it was agreed to wait to see what the other Cook County schools adopt. Board Member Skip Lamb said it would be helpful for parents with students in other schools to have the same schedule.
. The next meeting of the BGCS board is Monday, April 20 at 5:30 p.m. at the school.
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