Dialogue begins on Barnum budget woes

A community meeting brainstorming solutions to financial issues in the Barnum School District aimed to bring people together Wednesday, March 4.

A circle of 21 stakeholders, made up of three members of school personnel, students, parents, community members and support staff expressed their views about what needs to be changed in the Barnum School District now that the school board is discussing cuts in staff because of a deficit budget.

Facilitators Laraine and Paul Mickelson of Mickelson Consulting led the discussion using a circle process, using a restorative practices framework to help problem solve together.

Superintendent Mike McNulty reviewed the budget for the next school year before the session began. He spoke about the trend in declining enrollment that is affecting not only the Barnum district but schools throughout the nation. The student numbers were shown for this year and next year.

“ECFE (Early Childhood and Family Education) numbers for next year are up eight or 10 people for next year,” he said. “That’s very good news, great news actually. But sometimes those numbers don’t always hold. Sometimes they go up and sometimes they go down. Each student brings in about $10,000 to the school district.

“We are trying to look at $50,000 to $100,000 kind of ideas,” he said, noting that the cuts are needed to keep the district out of Statutory Operating Debt (SOD).

According to Minnesota statutes, a school district goes into SOD when the district’s budget drops to a net negative unreserved General Fund balance exceeding more than 2 percent of its unreserved/undesignated operating expenditures.

One student expressed concern about his education at Barnum in the next five years.

A teacher spoke about investing herself in the kids and her interest in finding a path forward to find the best path for the kids.

That was echoed by a special education teacher.

“Every decision we make impacts others,” another teacher said. “I see strife in the people that work here and in the students as well.”

High School principal Greg Campbell said that he was committed to the process (of working together to find solutions).

“I’ve seen this process work where other processes failed,” he said.

Laraine Mickelson asked several questions that each answered. The first was, What gifts do we have as a school district that will guide us as we navigate this challenge?

For this question, she asked for one- or two-word answers.

The answers from the 21 members of the circle were: dedicated people, amazing staff and support system, community support, ideas and flexibility, pride, family dynamics, collaboration, commitment, passion, proud history, different experiences and knowledge.

Board Member Jamie Fugelstad said that he’s lost a lot of sleep over this issue.

“I feel bad for our administration,” he said. “They are new; they didn’t ask for this. We lost 100 kids over a five-year span. That’s our challenge. We have to work from where we are at.”

“The biggest challenge is to keep the school open,” said school board member Pat Poirier. “This has been coming for a long time. We’ve kept class sizes down and we’ve kept quality teachers.”

McNulty said that his biggest challenge is how to move forward.

“I try to weigh everything as much as possible,” he said. “I am trying to bring the best product possible.”

Paul Mickelson asked, in summary of those responses, “Do we only get together when something bad is going on? How come we are not having these conversations yearly? Where is the community voice? If this was coming and it was seen a long time ago, why has it surprised them?”

One parent stressed the possibility that since the superintendent in Moose Lake is retiring, the Barnum superintendent could be the superintendent of both schools.

That comment was not met with favor from several members of the group.

Fugelstad said that he was present at the interviews for a new superintendent.

“We had a lot of applicants that weren’t very good,” he said. “If we had offered the job as a part-time position, we would get someone from the bottom of the barrel.”

Ideas presented were fundraisers, marketing the school to attract more students under open enrollment or promoting families to move to the area, giving the different departments time to develop their own list of budget cuts, and even bringing back the vocational foods program to attract students that are interested in that career.

Campbell explained at the end of the meeting that several schools may be getting a $100,000 grant for a vocational program that would be shared by the Barnum, Moose Lake and Willow River School Districts.

One participant asked that the recommended cuts in staffing be made slowly.

“You won’t be able to rehire some of those when their positions are gone,” she warned. “We still have over 700 kids. Keep the staff cuts as a slow process as enrollment goes down.”

Elementary principal Judy Vivito thanked everyone that came.

“The best idea is a combination of ideas,” she said. “We have to consider short-term and long-term. We have to take a hard look at things.”

Paul Mickelson suggested that, instead of taking staff away, why iusn’t the community doing more to attract families.

“Why are we talking about subtraction and not addition?” he asked. “Why aren’t we talking about getting another 100 kids into the community? Why are other communities attracting more people into the community? Why are the kids leaving? That should be talked about.”

During the comments, staff members asked the board to delay the vote on the proposed staff cuts.

One-word answers given at the end of the discussion were positive: relief, thoughtful, opportunity, hope, educational, gratitude, anticipatory, resilience, thankful, exhausted, eye-opening, community, awakened, good and respectful.

The next meeting of the Barnum School Board is Tuesday, March 17, at 6:30 p.m.

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Board considers operating referendum

The Barnum Finance Committee met Tuesday, March 10, and discussed presenting an operating referendum to the voters in the school district on General Election Day, Nov. 3.

Figures presented by Ehlers, a municipal and school advisory firm, showed that additional revenue of $300 per student would bring in an estimated $225,000. The tax impact on a $100,000 property would be $55 a year.

If the operating levy were set at $460 per student, it would bring in $345,000. The tax impact would be $85 a year on a $100,000 property.

If the operating levy were set at $704.27 per student, it would bring in $528,200. The tax impact would be $165 on a $100,000 property.

The Barnum School Board Finance Committee revised the budget for the next school year. The revised budget will be brought to the school board meeting on Tuesday, March 17, for approval.

— Lois E. Johnson / Pine Knot News