Looming State Shutdown Already Impacting Lakeville Schools

Editor's note: This is the first in a line of stories to publish through Friday discussing how a state shutdown will affect Lakeville and aspects of every day life for many people.

While Democrats and Republicans continue their political game of chicken with the state budget, the prospect of a statewide government shutdown is anything but a game for the Lakeville Area Public School District. Despite not knowing when or how much to expect from the state for funding, the School Board voted to approve a preliminary $131 million budget Tuesday evening for the 2011-2012 school year.

The budget will certainly have to be revisited once those state figures are determined, but the uncertainty has already forced the district into securing $9 million in aid anticipation funding that could potentially cost the district $40,000 in interest for the short-term loan.

Those funds will be received July 7 and will be utilized to aid the district with ongoing cash flow in the event state funds cease flowing on July 1.

Mark Klett, the district’s director of financial services, informed the School Board that the district “might be able to make it through July and August using both that and the line of credit.”

“The bad news is we’re doing it,” Klett said in reference to the aid anticipation funding. “The good news is that it appears as though we’ve done all that we can to get the cash available to carry us for a couple of months.”

Klett also said his department has secured all of the Federal funds currently available for the district. But with state funding anticipated to account for approximately $77 million of the $101 million general fund in the preliminary 2011-2012 budget it quickly becomes evident how much of an impact a state shutdown would have on the district.

Barb Knudsen, the district’s director of teaching and learning services who was also officially appointed as interim superintendent on Tuesday evening, said last week she had been receiving frequent updates from the state department regarding the possible shutdown, sometimes multiple updates in the same day.

But Tuesday, Knudsen said those updates had stopped.

“The state department has a frequently asked question that comes out, but that has not been updated for a couple of days,” said Knudsen.

The state budget parties have admittedly gone into a “cone of silence” of late, but that leaves entities such as the school district with little new information to plan.

Knudsen said that grad testing, normally done at the end of July, was moved up to this week but that a shutdown would delay the results of those tests as well as MCA testing results which could impact essential district reports all the way into December.

Tony Massaros, director of administrative services, said the biggest issue his department is dealing with is teacher licensure.

“Teachers who have not renewed their licenses if they were expiring June 30th could be problematic,” said Massaros. He also said it could be an issue for any new teachers entering the district depending on if there was a shutdown or how long it would be.

Variance request for licenses also can’t traditionally be submitted until July 1 each year, leaving all of those requests to potentially pile up and create a backlog once the state would come back online.

Massaros probably summed up the situation best when he said “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, I guess.”

“Hopefully we won’t have to get to the bridge,” said Board member Jim Skelly.

“It’s evident that a shutdown benefits no one,” added Board member Roz Peterson.

Preliminary Budget: “First of its kind”

As part of the district’s initiative to improve communication with the public on financial issues, the preliminary 2011-2012 budget is expected to be available on the district’s website Wednesday.

More than just a mind-numbing listing of the 9,000 lines of accounting codes, the budget will feature graphs and charts that break down where money flows in and how it flows out so residents can get a visual picture as well as numerical picture of the budget.

Board member Bob Erickson called it a “first of its kind document” and praised Klett and others involved for creating the budget in its current format.

Erickson also praised the timing of the document saying it will help potential superintendent candidates gain a deeper insight into the district’s finances.

Superintendent Search

As expected, the board as interim superintendent until a can begin in late August or September.

Candidates for the superintendent position will be presented to the public during a school board meeting on July 11. The candidates will then be interviewed on July 12 to determine who the finalists for the position will be.

A final decision is expected by July 21.