A large group of West End residents attended a February 11 meeting to hear why they should vote to save Birch Grove Community School. Some of the people who spoke are pictured. (L-R, front) Judy Motschenbacher, Jessica Cameron, Sarah Somnis, Kathy Lawrence and Jessica’s children Jack and Wyle Cameron Jenson. (L-R, back) Jackie Robinson, Skip Lamb, Plamen Dimitrov and Dr. Charles Speiker, who was the keynote speaker.
Since 1894 there have been elementary schools in one place or another in the west end of Cook County, but that could change if residents of Lutsen, Tofte and Schroeder vote against continued funding of the Birch Grove Community School (BGCS) at annual meetings on March 10, 2015.
“It’s time to fish or cut bait,” said Judy Motschenbacher to the West End residents who attended a meeting on Wednesday, February 11 to discuss the future of the elementary school.
Birch Grove Community School, an award-winning, tuition-free, public charter school serving students from grades K-5, needs to have secure funding to continue operating, said Motschenbacher. Toward that end, school board members will request $20,000 in yearly financial support from each of the three townships.
“This request is intended to become a permanent line item in township budgets from 2015 into the future,” Motschenbacher said.
The BGCS board will ask residents to vote for the levy increase until the school’s attendance comes up and/or a healthy fund balance is established, said current BGCS Director Diane Blanchette.
Blanchette said the community made choices in the past to support elementary education to keep children closer to home. She said the upcoming vote would be crucial. “The residents need to be aware that they will be making a historic decision that will impact the community for years to come. It is completely in the hands of the people.”
Finances and fundraising
Birch Grove offers K-5 before- and after-school programming, as well as programming for non-school days. The Saplings preschool program is open to 3- to 5-year-olds and operates five days a week with 6-7 children participating. It doesn’t use general funds and is paid for by parents, donations, grants and fundraising. In the summer the Sapling program is continued along with another program, Campsite Kids. Neither receives money from the school, but operate through donations, parents’ fees, grants, and money from fundraisers.
Last year, 78 percent of school revenue came from state sources, 7 percent came from federal sources and 15 percent from local sources, much of that in the form of fundraising.
From a high of 49 students in 2008 to 18 students currently enrolled, the school has steadily lost children. Much of that is attributed to the high cost of housing in the West End (and county) and a lack of jobs that pay livable wages.
Last summer a teacher quit before she could start at Birch Grove because she couldn’t find affordable housing, said Blanchette, and another teacher nearly left before finding housing in Little Marais for her family.
To keep the school afloat, the school board, parents and community spend a great deal of time fundraising, said Motschenbacher, adding that the school’s auditor told her Birch Grove is “probably the top fundraiser in the state for a charter school.”
A big question is what the levy would cost a homeowner. Based on figures supplied by Cook County Auditor Braidy Powers, for a property assessed at $200,000, property owners in Lutsen would pay an additional $13.74; in Tofte, an additional $33 per year, and in Schroeder, $34.76 more per year.
What is the community value?
Dr. Charles Speiker, a retired education finance specialist who worked for the state of Minnesota and who is a member of Volunteers of America (VOA), the sponsoring entity of BGCS, was on hand to make an impassioned pitch to residents to vote to save the school. Speiker served a year on the BGCS board when it was first established, and he was back passionately advocating for the school.
Speiker stressed that he was at the meeting “on his own dime” and not there to represent VOA.
Speiker said charter schools don’t have the same tax levying authority that public schools do, which makes fundraising all the more necessary. He said there is a fiscal disparity in the way the state reimburses charter schools versus non-charter schools. He said the state pays from $450 to $5,000 less per pupil for children who attend charter schools versus those who attend other public schools.
Speiker touted the school’s excellent academic record, noting that in 2013-14 Birch Grove had the highest MCA math scores for all of Minnesota’s VOA-sponsored schools and in 2012-13 Birch Grove students tested number one in reading in Minnesota’s VOA-sponsored schools. This year the Minnesota Department of Education ranked Birch Grove 13th out of 157 charter schools based on student testing and academic achievement.
Answering a question recently raised by the Tofte township attorney who suggested it isn’t legal for the township to give money to the charter school through the levy, Speiker explained that townships can levy to contribute to a charter school if it is viewed as a service to the community, much as it gives to support firefighters, search and rescue or a road and bridge department.
Speiker said, “The value question for you is, is the school good for this community? Ask yourself whether or not the community is better with the school or better off without the school? I’ve seen beautiful little towns disappear once their school is gone. The school might just be at the core of your community’s health.”
Blanchette added that in 2014 the school contributed $43,000 to the Birch Grove Community Center’s $72,000 annual operating budget, so the loss of the school would put a large hole in that budget.
A parent’s plea
Of the students who attend K-5, eight come from Silver Bay, four from Schroeder, four from Lutsen, one from Tofte and one from Finland. Children enrolled in the Saplings program come from Hovland (two), Grand Marais (one), Schroeder (one) and Finland (one). In the last year seven children have left Birch Grove K-5 while three kids have left the Saplings program.
“I can’t say for sure why they left, but if people can’t find a place that is affordable to live, they have to move,” said Blanchette.
Illustrating that point was Ada Hall, who said she lives in Hovland and commutes daily to the West End to work. Her kids attend the Saplings program and she said she feels safe leaving them there. “I couldn’t afford housing in the West End or in Grand Marais. Hovland was the cheapest place I could afford. I am a single mother raising two children. Without the Saplings program I couldn’t afford to work because I can’t afford to pay for daycare on what I make.”
Hall, who grew up in Lutsen, urged people to vote to keep the school.
At the meeting’s conclusion, Blanchette said, “If the people vote no, I can live with that. I will move on. But I fear that if the school goes away, it’s highly unlikely it will be brought back.”
For West End voters, the $60,000 question is, if Blanchette is right, what will that mean to the health and welfare of the West End community?
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