Carlton, Cloquet tuition talks continue

Board members from Carlton and Cloquet School districts met for the first time Monday to continue discussions about a possible tuition agreement between the two schools.

A tuition agreement would guarantee that Carlton students in grades 9-12 could enroll in the larger district — at a cost to the Carlton district — if and when Carlton closes its high school.

Up to this point, only the two superintendents, business managers and the school board chair for each district have been talking.

Both boards formed subcommittees last month to help advance the discussions to the next level, as the tentative plan is to implement the agreement starting in the 2022-23 school year.

On Monday, Cloquet board members Nate Sandman and Ken Scarbrough attended the meeting along with board chair Ted Lammi. Only board chair Julianne Emerson attended for Carlton; board members Tim Hagenah and Erin Szymczak were absent.

The superintendents guided the board members through two documents: the first, some basic questions and answers; the second, a draft of a possible tuition agreement between the two schools. Carlton superintendent John Engstrom estimated the current high school enrollment at between 120 and 130 students.

Space was the first question — whether or not Cloquet High School would have room for all the Carlton students in grades 9-12 who choose to go there.

The answer was yes. Cloquet is moving its Li’l Lumberjacks learning center, which should free up additional space at the high school. Worst case scenario, he said, the high school could create work spaces for teachers to use during prep periods, which could free up 15 percent more classrooms.

“We would need to add teachers to keep our class sizes where we have had them historically, but we offer a wide range of electives that sometimes struggle with numbers,” said Cloquet superintendent Michal Cary. “This would bolster those.”

In terms of extracurricular activities, Carlton students would be considered Cloquet students and would have access to all sports and activities.

The contract outlined what state funding would be paid to Cloquet schools by the Carlton district. Rather than giving dollar figures, because those change every year, the contract listed aid categories, including basic, gifted and talented, equity, operating capital, local optional revenue and long-term facility maintenance. In addition to the state funds, the tuition agreement will include an additional $800-per-pupil unit, which is roughly the amount of additional money per student currently provided by the operating levy that was last approved by Carlton taxpayers in 2016.

“When you look at it, the majority of aids would flow to us,” Cary said, noting that Carlton would keep transportation aid from the state, because it will be responsible for transporting the students to and from school in Cloquet.

All Carlton resident students would be considered tuition students according to the state, Cary said, even if they have been open-enrolled into Cloquet before ninth grade.

Recently, Engstrom addressed the reasons the Carlton district is pursuing the tuition agreement after a number of residents and students asked the board to stick with the K-12 model. It’s not because they want to shut down the high school, he said, and it’s not because they don’t think Carlton kids need a better education. It’s the budget. Carlton has been operating at an annual deficit of nearly $1 million a year, he said.

Under the terms of the draft agreement, if Carlton voters don’t renew the operating levy, Carlton would have the option of terminating the agreement the year the operating levy sunsets, if the district is unable to continue to make the additional $800 payments.

Lammi said the additional payment is a way of recouping money Cloquet taxpayers have invested into their buildings already, or building up additional revenue for future improvements or buildings.

Engstrom also said that Carlton is not planning to go out for a building referendum in the near future; instead, they will likely spread their students out between the two buildings and try to rent out one wing of the high school to the county or another entity to recoup some costs.

“We want to give this some time to breathe,” he said.

The subcommittees did not set a date for their next meeting on Monday, but they would like to have all the details hammered out in January at the latest, because students usually begin enrolling in the next year’s classes in late February.