On June 18, 2015, the School District 166 school board passed a motion to seek a voter-approved levy of $1,276 per pupil for a total levy increase of approximately $612,480. Since then citizens in support of the levy increase to benefit the school have worked toward the passage of an Operating Levy Referendum via the “Funding our Future” committee. The committee was successful in gaining a great deal of support, however, when the votes were tallied on Tuesday, November 2, 2015, the measure was defeated by 101 votes.
The Minnesota Secretary of State reports that there were 1,039 yes votes (48 percent) and 1,140 no votes (52 percent). The morning of the election there were 3,485 registered voters in Cook County. A total of 2,179 votes were cast, reflecting 62 percent of the eligible voters.
At that June 2015 meeting, Superintendent Beth Schwarz explained that the school district actually has three operational levies, a voter approved levy, a board approved levy and a local option levy.
Schwarz said the local optional revenue (LOR) levy, already in place, is not slated for any change. The LOR provides $424 per pupil for school operations.
The second operating levy is a board-approved referendum, which can be raised and lowered by the school board, without voter approval. There was no board-approved referendum on the school tax levy in 2014-2015. With a resolution at the June 18 meeting, the board approved adding $300 per pupil to the operating levy.
At that time, Schwarz described the board-approved operating levy as a “safety net,” to help the school stay afloat if the voter approved levy failed to pass.
However, at press time, Schwarz said even with that board-approved referendum, major cuts will have to be made because the voter-approved operating levy was not approved.
The previous voter-approved levy, approved in 2010, expires in fiscal year 2016. That levy currently brings $437.09 to the school per student.
Based on the student population of 480 in June 2015, the school board hoped the voter-approved levy would bring $612,480 to the school for the 2016 – 2017 school year and the subsequent four years. That was not the case and with the failure of the operating levy referendum, the school district will have some tough choices to make.
“The loss will pose challenges for Cook County School District and reductions will need to be made,” said Schwarz, estimating that approximately $400,000 would have to be eliminated from the ISD 166 budget to reach a balanced budget.
“If the operating levy had passed, it would have provided the opportunity for a balanced budget as well as given us the ability to fulfill some of the school board’s other priorities,” said Schwarz.
If the operating levy had passed, the board planned to expand and enhance things such as technology upgrades, drop-out prevention, early childhood programming, special education, and more. The school board also hoped to eliminate fees for student participation in extracurricular activities.
Schwarz said the good news is that the draft audit of the school district’s finances shows that the end-of-year fund balance should be $464,000, about what she anticipated. Had more of the fund balance been used, Schwarz said, “The situation would have been even more dire.”
However, with the looming budget cuts, the board will not be able to grow the school fund balance for future needs.
In addition, Schwarz said the district is facing the extra costs of the Operating Levy Referendum (approximately $13,044) and the upcoming superintendent search.
Reached by phone, Board Chair Jeanne Anderson said the school board had already begun to make plans for reductions as it has faced administrative restructuring and the resignation of Superintendent Schwarz.
Looking at the daunting task of reducing the school district budget by approximately $400,000, Anderson said the school board would like to hear suggestions from citizens. She said as a parent herself, she doesn’t want to see students impacted. “I want the public to know that three of the school board members are parents and we know that it really matters what cuts are made.”
The next meeting of the School District 166 school board will be Thursday, November 5 at 5 p.m. at the Jane Mianowski Conference Room and other than setting the agenda for an all-day workshop on November 10, there is no plan to discuss the election results at that meeting. Although Schwarz added, “I’m guessing there may be some disappointment expressed.”
The agenda for the school board retreat scheduled for 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on November 10, set before the election results were known, lists time for discussion of election results and the impact on the school budget going forward.
There is time for public comment at the beginning of both the regular meeting and the work session.
Anderson said, “As a board we have a lot of work to do.”
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