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10 things to know about the Rochester schools referendum

10-13 3Cathy Nathan en.jpg
Cathy Nathan

On Tuesday, Rochester voters will go to the polls to vote on whether to give more money to the schools.

The Rochester school district is seeking $9.61 million a year over a ten-year period to deal with a $3.8 million deficit in the 2016-17 school year and a $4.5 million deficit in the 2017-18 school year.

Some questions, and answer, about it:

How much will it cost me?

For voters with a $200,000 home, it will add $15.28 to property taxes each month. Last year, the portion of the bill that came from the school district was about $660 dollars a year, and this would rise to $842 per year.

What will the district get from this referendum?

The current levy, which was approved in 2006, funds the district at about $309 per student. This is well below the state average of local levy funding of $836.82, so the district is asking voters for an additional $527.03 per student to bring it in line with that number. The school board also has authority to levy a certain amount without voter approval and receives another $424 through local optional revenue, which would put the total funding at $1,260.82 per student.

This would allow the district to avoid cuts through the 2019-20 school year. Over 10 years, the district has received a 13.5 percent increase through the state funding formula, Assistant Superintendent Brenda Lewis said, but the consumer price index for the same period was 27.1 percent.

Why is the district asking for a referendum now?

Following the 2012-13 school year, the district began a planned spend-down of its budget reserve but is now approaching the account's 6 percent minimum limit set by the school, leaving the district with two choices: make cuts or ask voters for more local money.

"This is the only way that public schools can get additional funding," said Superintendent Michael Muñoz at a Post-Bulletin forum Wednesday, noting the district received a larger-than-normal 2 percent funding increase in a year the state had a $2 billion surplus. "We can't count on the state."

At the forum, former Republican state Rep. Fran Bradley noted that even though the district has to keep up with 3 percent inflation costs, many in the private sector don't receive increases like that, so the additional taxes worry him.

"I think the most important consideration is taking a taxpayer perspective on it, and to bring questions to the assumption that we're sort of entitled to grow this enterprise that we call our Rochester school district by 3 percent," Bradley said. "I think we need to challenge that, however we do it."

And with all the growth the area is likely to see, boosting district enrollment, leaders discussed the possibility of adding another building in the next 10 years, a possibility of additional taxation that worries Greg Gallas of the Rochester Tea Party Patriots.

"I just think we're putting an awful lot of trust in estimates in further years out," Bradley said. "Unfortunately, who's left holding the bag is taxpayers."

Who supported and opposed the override?

Two groups have come to the forefront of debate on the issues: the Alliance for Strong Rochester Public Schools, urging people to vote yes, and the Rochester Tea Party Patriots, questioning district spending and urging voters to say no at the polls.

Co-chair of the Alliance for Strong Rochester Public Schools Cathy Nathan said she has closely watched the school board and district for 10 years, and has seen the past effects of budget cuts.

The Vote Yes group started in July, tabling at back to school nights, been out in the community distributing fliers, yard signs and presenting to parents and local groups.

Gallas said the Tea Party's primary outreach is its website and its weekly email newsletters.

"Are we going to be in cutting mode, and in crisis mode?" Nathan asked in her opening statement at a Post-Bulletin dialogue Wednesday evening, "Or are we going to come together and give the district a basic foundation of fiscal soundness so we can look forward and plan for the future...?"

After the Tea Party published a look-alike flier to the district's own, the district issued a cease-and-desist letter, claiming it infringed on district intellectual property rights. The dialogue also gave local leaders the chance to directly discuss some points of contention, like district iPad costs, consulting fees and administrative pay raises.

How much did the district spend on consultants?

The Tea Party flier claimed the district spent about $4 million on consulting fees because of confusion with a line item listed on the district's budget. In reality the district only spent $168,000 on consultants, said Lewis at a school board meeting last week. The rest of the line item expenses went to other external service costs.

How much did the district spend on iPads?

The district also disputed a Tea Party flier which reported $2 million was spent annually on iPads.

Muñoz said the actual costs for iPads was $1.42 million over four years for 3,480 iPads and carts. The district has about 8,000 iPads, but many were purchased prior to the district's "Phase 1" of its one-to-one technology implementation in some district schools. He noted the district also received a $50,000 donation to buy classroom sets, buildings have used individual funding and the district has also utilized lease levy dollars to finance the new classroom technology.

Administrative pay increases

But the one of the biggest issues for Gallas has was a 13 percent salary increase for administration, when he says administrators were aware of the impending budget deficit.

"Knowing full well over the past three to four years we were facing a deficit," Gallas said, "It is those financial decisions, I and many in this community are calling into question."

However, district leaders say the purpose of the raise was to maintain strong leadership and insist it wasn't out of line with comparable districts. That group has not seen a raise since 2006, Muñoz said.

"We don't believe we have to be the highest paid group, but we try to be somewhere in the middle, to be competitive so we can try to maintain the people or bring in quality people when we need to."

The district restructured in 2013-14 when it added an assistant superintendent position, which replaced two executive director positions — a savings of $60,000 for the district, Lewis said.

School board involvement

Some have questioned why school board members haven't been more involved in the referendum process. But board members say their involvement was working to carefully set the levy amount.

"I think our board felt like we took so much time to make the decision whether to go forward with the referendum," said Chair Deborah Seelinger. "We kind of turned it over to the district as their role is to get the information out."

She added board members have made sure to have a presence at a lot of the community gatherings, forums and informational events to show support.

What happens if this referendum doesn't pass?

District administrators say while there have been no official decisions made on cuts, if the $9.61 million the district is requesting from the referendum doesn't pass, a possibility would be 5 percent cuts across departments.

Of the district's $190 million general fund, about 80 percent goes to finance employee salaries and benefits, so many of the cuts would have to be to personnel. The district estimates it would be forced to make about 114 employee cuts by 2016-17. This would breakdown to cutting about 50 teachers, 16 special eduction teachers, 24 paraprofessionals and 3 principals. By the 2019-20 school year, the district estimates it will have to make about 220 total employee cuts.

Teacher reductions would lead to increased class sizes. It would also likely lead to scaled back CTECH offerings, less support for gifted programs and a reduction in English Language services offered. It's possible athletics and other activities will see cutbacks and the district will have fewer classroom materials. District officials said it could even mean warmer buildings in the spring, summer and fall, and cooler buildings in the winter to save money on heating and cooling costs.

But these are just examples of cuts. Nothing has officially been decided, say district officials.

Gallas said he doesn't agree with the district not providing what specific cuts would be made ahead of time, so voters can better make a decision.

"That is what would help a large number of us, either get on board or keep the stance we have, because we don't know," Gallas said.

More buildings, or another referendum?

If the referendum doesn't pass, it is possible officials could ask for another vote next year, though administrators and school board members can't say whether this will happen at this point.

"I know if the referendum doesn't pass, we are going to be having some very hard conversations about next steps," said school board Chair Deborah Seelinger. "Obviously we will have to be looking a budget cuts and what that process will look like in terms of if we would choose to run another referendum, it's hard to say. There's so many things that come into play in making that decision."

At Wednesday's Post-Bulletin dialogue, community members and administrators also discussed the growing need for more building space. Since the 2005-06 school year, the district's student count has grown from 16,109 to this year's headcount of 17,445. And city officials and administrators project even more growth in the next ten to twenty years with DMC plans. It is possible in the coming years the district could seek a bonding referendum for additional building space.

"If we continue to grow like we have and with the impact of DMC, we will probably have to look at a site somewhere." Muñoz said.

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