A plea for support of the Birch Grove Community School turned into a somewhat contentious discussion at the December 12, 2013 Tofte Township board meeting. At issue was whether the school should pay more rent to the Birch Grove Foundation than it gets in “lease aid” from the state, which is based on the number of students. The number of students—23—is lower this year than in the past.
Longtime resident Judy Motschenbacher said that the Birch Grove Foundation was formed in the 1980s to support the reopening of Birch Grove Elementary School after ISD 166 closed it to save money in the face of declining enrollment. The school reopened thanks to the financial support of the community and eventually became a charter school when ISD 166 pulled out for good.
Motschenbacher told the board that the Birch Grove Foundation was using its positive cash flow to support programs for various segments of the community when it could be using that cash flow to keep the school from having to use its general fund on rent.
Supervisor Paul James pointed out that the township has spent a lot of money buying, maintaining, and improving the building and grounds. He and Supervisor Jim King took issue with the school’s request for support when only a few of the students are Tofte residents.
Tofte Township Supervisor Allan “D.C.” Olsen was absent from the December 12 board meeting but would have recused himself from the discussion because of potential conflicts of interest. He does computer work for the school and is in the process of selling his hostel business, housed in the community center, to the foundation.
Motschenbacher said she appreciated all the services and amenities she gets for the taxes she pays to the township. She indicated that she was concerned that some of the foundation’s revenue was going toward programs instead of building expenses, leaving residents at risk of unnecessary township levies.
“The purpose in acquiring the building was to house a school because the community of Tofte felt the need, recognized the opportunity, and voted to tax themselves to buy the property,” Motschenbacher wrote in a document she handed out at the meeting. “The foundation agreed to pay the bills.
“…In the past two years, the foundation has changed course and has become an organization focused on programming and community.”
The Birch Grove Foundation’s website states that the foundation “seeks to provide a well managed facility for education, recreation, health services, senior programming and community events.”
The foundation operates community education and senior citizen programs, organizes recreational and cultural events, oversees building maintenance, and manages renters. Currently housed in the Birch Grove Community Center are Birch Grove Community School, Saplings Preschool, Bluefin Family Child Care, Sawtooth Mountain Satellite Clinic, and Lake Superior Hostel.
Motschenbacher said she thought the foundation’s programs were good but didn’t think the township had really decided to move away from a primary focus on supporting the school.
Motschenbacher said she didn’t want to pay taxes for the building when the foundation was making money. The community needs to support its youth as well as its seniors, she said.
Motschenbacher said she wanted more transparency regarding how the foundation’s money was being spent. Supervisor King said the foundation’s accounting system was going to be overhauled at a work session in January.
James and King indicated that the community has stood behind the school.
James said if Motschenbacher and School Director Diane Blanchette were at the meeting to attack the foundation, they should have let them know ahead of time so they could have been there to defend themselves.
The foundation’s community programs have been well attended and are an asset to the community, King said.
Blanchette said so is the school, and King agreed.
“This is an attack on a lot of people, including this board,” said King. The school needs the foundation, he said, and they need to work together.
Motschenbacher told the board, “We’ve been negotiating the lease and it’s been painful.” She said the school had settled on a 2013-14 lease with the foundation, agreeing to use $8,000 of its general education fund to supplement its lease aid dollars. “That’s hard,” she said. “This building pays for itself.”
Board Chair James ended the conversation on an encouraging note, saying they will figure this out.
Motschenbacher’s thoughts
Judy Motschenbacher called the News-Herald the day after the meeting. She said the school has been paying $1,200 per student each year, which would total $27,600 for 23 students. They agreed to pay $32,000 this school year but have paid as much as $72,000 in other years. She said they have had as many as 42 students since they have been a charter school.
Motschenbacher said they have been using less space with lower enrollment and are down to two classrooms this year.
“We have a balanced budget,” Motschenbacher said. “We’re living well within our means and we’re fundraising like crazy.”
Motschenbacher said the foundation used to be “the booster club for the school” but thinks the school is being viewed now as a funding source.
“I want to get this resolved and we’ll work at this until we do,” Motschenbacher said.
Blanchette’s thoughts
Diane Blanchette also called the News-Herald, saying she wants the community to know how much money the Birch Grove Community Center brings in. The conversation always turns to how many students the school has and where they live instead of how much money the foundation has to work with, she said. She said she believes the school’s rent is bringing in a big chunk of the cost of keeping the building open. It seems like the school is being blamed when it is a big part of the solution, she said.
The foundation responds
According to its mission statement, the Birch Grove Foundation strives to build “a healthier, sustainable community for all generations through cooperation, coordination and collaboration in training and education, recreation, arts and culture, and health and wellness.”
The foundation’s website states that when it was incorporated in 1985, its purpose was “to reopen the elementary school that had been closed by the school district due to financial constraints and create a community center for our community.”
The foundation is developing a five-year strategic plan to pursue how best to meet the needs of the West End. “We always have and continue to support the school as an important community asset,” foundation director Patty Nordahl said on behalf of the foundation board.
The foundation will host a community meeting on February 19 to gather input from the community in order to identify priorities and create a shared vision for the community and the community center.
Township supervisor thoughts
Supervisor Jim King submitted comments to the News-Herald after consulting with Paul James. He said that most of the school’s students, staff, and board members live outside of Tofte and that information from the school this fall showed that 8.8 percent of the students live in Tofte.
King said the vision of the foundation and the township is to have a community center that can provide meeting space, activities, and services for all age groups and families in the West End. “Participation and program growth in the last two years reinforces this vision,” he said. “The notion that all program income should support BGS is shortsighted.”
King said the school is an important part of the West End community. “Hopefully, BGS will be able to manage their resources to continue to provide a needed program for the children of our community,” he said.
Citizen D.C. Olsen comments
D.C. Olsen commented on the issue as a tax-paying citizen after clarifying that his roles with the school and foundation prevent him from commenting as a township supervisor.
If the school closed, Olsen said, over $400,000 now being spent each year on wages and educational programming in the community (separate from lease aid) would be lost. He said he hopes the school remains in the building because it would be hard to replace.
Olsen said that the foundation pays the township $1,000 a month for rent and then rents portions of the building out to others. He said he thought it would be more straightforward for the township to collect rent from all building users, including the foundation, and hire the foundation to manage the building.
Olsen supported allowing the school to pay only as much in rent as it gets in lease aid but said the amount of space it uses should reflect the number of students it has. He said that the entities using the community center are too small to be able to afford commercial rent prices and that he was concerned that they would lose those groups if they are not flexible.
Census Bureau statistics
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of Tofte was 226 in 2000 and 249 ten years later. Its under-age-5 population grew from four to eight, but its 5-9 population shrank from 15 to 5, and extrapolating from data on the 10-14 age range, its 10-11 population shrank from 5.2 to 1.2.
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