Leading our Finances
Our financial position greatly affects the education our scholars receive. Across the state, school districts are making cuts and closing schools. Today, Minneapolis announced more school closures. Short-term thinking on managing revenue and cost drivers such as tax levy referendums, state funding assumptions, staffing contracts and operational trade-offs is creating lasting negative educational impacts for many districts. I am proud that our district is an exception, with a healthy fund balance, strong taxpayer support, and fiscal discipline in setting expense parameters and cost-management expectations. During my time on the board, and as Chair, I have leveraged my finance background and business experience to lead and support wise financial decision-making and planning.
Many community members may not know that the school board's taxing authority is extremely limited, and most of our funding comes from the state (~70%). Unlike cities, we cannot levy taxes for school operations without voter approval. Over the years, our taxpayer base has approved referendums about once a decade. This means that when we request increased taxpayer support, it must cover ten years of potential expense increases. This requires exceptional long-term planning and prudence, as legislative funding and mandates regularly surprise school districts with expenses that exceed the allocated state funding.
With this in mind, over the past eight years, the board has collectively prioritized budget discipline and long-term planning despite pressure to use our fund balance to fund new initiatives or expand parameters for certain operating expenses. We have maintained a modified zero-based budgeting approach that builds from the bottom up each year and requires departments to offset new spending requests by reducing spending elsewhere in their budget. All incremental spending requests come to the board for explicit approval. We also use a rigorous process with our fiscal committee to review incremental investments and provide recommendations before board approval. During the year, the finance team balances cost savings with unexpected operating increases and brings a mid-year budget to the board for approval. We do not spend back cost savings on new activities without a specific rationale and board approval. The ISD279 Business Services Department (Finance), its leaders, and its staff have received numerous awards recognizing their expertise and the district’s strong financial health. The board has regularly followed their guidance and advice, while also setting high-level expectations to manage spending to meet our long-term revenue expectations. These actions, which I approve of and support, have led to the positive position we are in today.
Despite our strong financial work and the partnership between the school board and district administration, cost pressures and inflation are real. Our largest operating expense is people - our teachers, educational support professionals, custodians, lunch personnel, and all the staff you see that serve our students and make our organization run well for students day in and day out. As we are all experiencing, health care, transportation, food, and living expenses continue to rise. Additionally, in education, our workforce pool is shrinking, and the demands of the work are increasing. I want to provide our teachers and staff with competitive pay and benefits, and I want our salaries to reflect the value our staff provides for our children and community. These are not easy decisions, and we have to make trade-offs when the state legislature sets our revenue. It forces school district leaders and board members to make necessary decisions that don’t always reflect what we would prefer to do. That’s the reality of serving.
The next school board the community elects will need the background and experience to continue stewarding the district's finances. It will need individuals who can think strategically and critically and who will invest in developing a deep understanding of school finance. It will need individuals with the courage to prioritize and balance competing interests and trade-offs. It will need individuals who place students at the center of all decisions - especially financial. Our finances are strong, and I am committed to the work to keep them that way. If elected to serve a third term, I will continue to support cost-management efforts and conservative use of fund balances. I will continue to advocate for legislation that limits new expenses for our schools and optimizes school funding to get to our classrooms. Our school district finances impact our scholars, staff, and community. Thank you for the opportunity to serve these past eight years, and I look forward to your support to keep us in good financial shape for another four years and the years to come.
