Letter: Input valuable to Watertown-Mayer

From: Therese Salonek
Board Chair, Watertown-Mayer Public Schools
We can hardly pick up a newspaper or turn on a TV and not be reminded of the dire consequences resulting from our national and state financial crisis. The impact of these crisis are far reaching and will inevitably be felt in all areas of our society, including public schools.
Funding for public k-12 education comprises 40 percent of the budget for the state of Minnesota. The current deficit for our state stands at $1.3 billion, reliable projections for the next biennium put that figure at closer to $5 billion. Deficits of this magnitude are unprecedented.
School leaders are in uncharted territory when it comes to projecting future funding for the schools and students they are responsible for.
Recently, while attending the Minnesota School Board Association conference, I attended a meeting with board chairs from across the state as, Bob Meeks, the association’s executive director, assessed Minnesota’s budget situation and its impact on school districts at the local level.
The forecast for the funding of public schools is precarious at best, it is unrealistic to assume k-12 funding will be held harmless as our state and federal leaders wrestle with mounting deficits.
MSBA is forecasting level funding for k-12 education for the next seven years best case scenario, and the real possibility of funding reductions to k-12 as the worst.
Currently, school districts, including Watertown-Mayer, receive approximately $5,500 per student per school year. Often this amount is supplemented by voter approved operating levies. Watertown-Mayer last had a voter approved operating referendum in the amount of $242 per pupil in 2001.
An operating levy is to be used for operating the school district and cannot be used for building initiatives. This levy will expire in 2011. If this operating levy is not extended and/or increased by the voters, Watertown-Mayer will have significant budget shortfalls, which will require difficult decisions to be made regarding the education of our students.
The school board and administration are keeping careful watch on spending, our fund balance was predicted to drop as we opened new educational spaces the past few years. Unfortunately this drop has coincided with a national economic downturn of a magnitude that has surprised even the experts.
As the school board and administration make plans to best position Watertown-Mayer to weather this economic storm and continue to prosper, we hope to continue to have open dialogue with the community we serve.
Recently we held a public forum to lay out the issues the district must address with the primary school in order to upgrade this aging facility to a satisfactory level. The student pressure on this facility will grow in the next few years, until it reaches full capacity in the near future.
This initiative will not be inexpensive regardless of the path we take. To do nothing and simply maintain this facility will require major improvements such as new heating systems, new roof, upgraded air handling systems to name a few. Renovating the primary school is also an option the school board has been investigating.
At the forum several options for renovation were presented for public comment, the school board plans to hold other information sessions in the next few months to receive input and dialogue with the community on what they would like to see done with the primary school building issues.
The reality is that this facility will continue to be an integral part of the education of the students of Watertown-Mayer for many years to come.
Please consider joining us as we contemplate our next steps as a district. Your input is valuable to us and crucial to helping us make the very best decisions possible. Watertown-Mayer has so much to be proud of and our future is a bright, together we can continue to give our students the very best education to help them succeed in their lives.