Board sets annual budget for next year

While it’s never an exact science when setting a budget nearly three months before students enter buildings for a new school year, the Cloquet school board approved numbers it was presented with at its regular meeting Monday night.

The total operating cost for the 2021-2022 year was estimated at $38.7 million, slightly under proposed revenues. That leaves the district fund balance at $9.2 million, about $86,000 more than the previous budget year.

The only eye-opener in the numbers is the projected $385,262 hit to the general fund balance. Superintendent Michael Cary said that number is always projected as a “worse case” scenario and by the end of the budget year things tend to balance out. That has been the case in the past few budget cycles, he said. “We’re comfortable with a budget deficit.”

Budgets are being set at school districts across the state this month, all without a clear picture of what the eventual state aid formula will be as the legislature was still hammering out a state budget in special session this week. Cloquet finance director Candace Nelis said the easiest route toward firming up budget numbers was to use figures from the 2020-2021 school year, which the board used in preliminary budget talks early in the spring.

There isn’t a huge change in the aid formula expected and enrollment is expected to stay on pace.

Change order

The remodel of the career and technical education spaces at the high school got off to a fast start — nearly three weeks ahead of schedule with work being done in May — but now crews have hit a snag. The demolition of walls and ceilings, part of an overall project to open the space for advanced academic work, has revealed structural beams holding up an air handling unit on the roof that serves other parts of the building. There is also ductwork that reduces the planned height of the ceiling.

The question now is whether the set up should stay or be moved.

Keeping the air handler and its support beams in place changes the “operational and teaching flow of the new metals shop,” said Kerry Leider from the engineering firm ARI. He described the hiccup Monday at the board meeting.

Working around the beams would bring about $5,000 in extra costs. Moving the air handler, and bringing the overall system up to code, Leider said, would mean a change order of about $64,000.

The school board will consider the options, but Leider said removal would be best in the long run. Superintendent Cary said a critical factor in deciding on the remodel was to open the space, and keeping the beams and ductwork in place would be the antithesis of that ideal. Leider said the cost for removal is high right now because of current inflated construction costs. The figure could be reduced if construction costs level off.

The snag isn’t entirely unexpected. Engineers and school staff did not know of the beams and ductwork hidden in the ceiling and behind walls, but change orders were fully expected for the nearly $2 million project.