Hopefully, you’ve already heard the New Prague Area School District is asking its residents to consider a $20 million operating levy referendum this fall, $2 million per year for 10 years. It will be on the ballot Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Our position will always be: Vote ‘yes’ or vote ‘no’ – that’s your call. Just vote. The owner of the average house in the district will pay about $20 a month if the levy question passes. You can’t legitimately complain about property taxes or the state of the school district if you don’t vote. That’s saying a lot since about half of the district’s families and less than all of the district’s employees who reside in the school district didn’t vote in the last referendum two years ago, according to information from Superintendent Andy Vollmuth.
Perusing social media reading the comments and questions people have on the referendum indicates there are both general and specific questions about the referendum – what will the money be spent on should the request pass and what will be cut if it once again fails?
If voters decline to approve the district’s request, Vollmuth points to a series of “logical consequences.” People understandably want to know what is on the line, but since some don’t like the list of possible reductions, the logical consequences are being deemed by some as ‘threats.’
Sorry, you can’t have it both ways.
Spending reductions involving staff and transportation are the most effective because they are the district’s two largest costs.
According to the information presented at school board workshops and meetings, most recently Monday, Sept. 22, the request is being marketed as a maintenance request to preserve current programming. Yes, the district is slowly losing students. The outgoing senior classes the past few years have been larger than the incoming kindergarten classes. Until a growth wave arrives, those days are likely gone for some time.
Should voters approve the school board’s request, the district will use the additional money to pay to maintain the level of services it currently offers, the average class sizes at the elementary (24 per class), middle school (31) and high school (30) levels and the seven-period day at the middle and high schools. It’s been stated and reported many times – 83% of what the district spends pays for wages and its share of the benefits for staff.
The latest info presented to the board states current walking distances for elementary (half mile) and secondary students (one mile) will also be maintained.
If Vollmuth tells people money from the approved levy will go toward maintaining elementary class sizes, parents of middle- and highschoolers will vote against the request since they likely see nothing in it for their children.
The 2.7% annual increase in per-student funding the legislature provides is not keeping pace with rising costs. Employees want raises to keep pace with the rising cost of living. There were about $43 million planned statewide for cuts in special education over the next two years and $420 million in statewide general education cuts planned for 2028-2029, according to the Minnesota House information services.
And what will be cut if the request fails again? Based on previous reductions following the last two unsuccessful levy referenda, the district will need to cut about $2 million – maybe more, perhaps less – depending on the size of the fund balance the school board wants to maintain. The fund balance is now about 14% of the $51.3 million general fund. Board policy loosely points to an 8% fund balance, an amount Vollmuth says covers about one month of the district’s expenses. Ideally, 14% is probably too much and 8% is possibly too lean.
If the issue fails and the district once again faces the option of reducing the size of its budget, folks will call for cuts to an administration already leaner than the average school district. The district’s preliminary budget for 2025- 2026 includes about $2.62 million for site and district administrative costs.
As part of a contention its administration is running lean, the district has already scaled back its costs with the retirement of Craig Most. Since his position wasn’t filled, members of administration have taken on facets of his work as part of a reorganization though they will eventually be compensated for taking on the extra duties. Previously, the district had one person, Sandy Linn, handling budget and human resources without an executive assistant.
As we’ve stated previously, make sure you are well-informed on the verifiable facts associated with the levy question and vote. It’s your district, your community