Financial picture holds steady in Esko schools

Esko superintendent Aaron Fischer told the school board Monday that he was cautiously optimistic the district would not have to face any retrenchment as a proposed budget for 2025 is being formulated.

"Our forecast showed that we were going to be projecting to be OK, so we are moving forward without any cuts," he said.

The number of students is the backbone of state funding and, unlike neighboring school districts, Esko has experienced a steady enrollment even with an overall decline in school-age children throughout the region. In the 2022-2023 school year, Carlton lost over 50 students, with a slight uptick reported in early March 2024. Cloquet lost a net 25 students between April of 2023 and April of this year.

In a later interview, Fischer described how enrollment works for his school district.

"I have 106 seniors graduating, and I'm only bringing in 88 kindergarteners," he said. That looks like a decline of 18 students, but, "through either some move-ins or open enrollment, I'm anticipating I will be back at the same level next year," he said.

What makes Esko so attractive to open enrollees and move-ins? Fischer mentioned quality and geography.

"We provide a good solid educational foundation for our kids and we have a robust set of electives and extracurricular programs," he said. In addition, "Our proximity to Duluth is an advantage for us. A lot of families can live in Esko and work in Duluth or Cloquet."

In a special presentation to the board, robotics coach Justin Scheider announced that Esko SubZero Robotics was going to State. Esko finished the season with a ranking of 21st out of 188 teams in Minnesota, making the team eligible for the state meet for the fourth time in the 10-year history of the Esko program.

Esko robotics operates under Minnesota State High School League rules, but the extracurricular activity does not have its own full-sized practice space. In a later interview, Scheider talked about the challenges.

"The hurdle that we're trying to overcome is the fact that there's no permanent place for this," Scheider said. "We don't have that dedicated space like all of your other sports."

The full-sized playing space, roughly 54 feet by 26 feet, rotates between the area schools, and Esko will host it starting April 22, just in time for the state tournament which begins May 4 . "The elementary phy-ed teachers were very welcoming ... so that our team and other teams that are qualified for state have an opportunity to practice," he said.

Assistant coach Laura Zimny said that robotics not only makes students compete but also fosters a higher level of cooperation. Because of the way meets are organized, students can find themselves working with total strangers.

"We are working together with those teams ... we're not working against them," she said. When the team traveled to Colorado, Esko worked together with Denfeld and Hermantown. "Scouting together, and strategizing together ... It was great working with them on an alliance," Zimny said.

Scheider and Zimny were accompanied at the board meeting by members of the team, each of whom talked about the unique experience.