Federal money to become available to local schools
Funds to come with strings, time limits
by Aaron Vehling
Thisweek Newspapers
It looks great. Federal dollars sent our way to help retain jobs in local school districts: Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan is poised to receive an estimated $5 million, Burnsville-Eagan-Savage nearly $2 million and Lakeville about $2 million.
But, as local school administrators say, this money is no windfall. In other words, the money is not a blitz of funding from the federal or state governments to the districts. When it comes to school funding, nothing is so simple.
“This is a reimbursement program,” said Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Finance Director Jeff Solomon. “There is some risk waiting for the federal money.”
The districts must spend the money first and then apply for reimbursement from the state by September 2012.
For at least one area district, the timing is not the best, either. Though the U.S. Department of Education will likely approve the funding soon, the money could take a while to reach local hands.
Given that last year districts decided on a budget for this school year, the likely scenario is that “we are looking at October at the earliest to bring people on board for only seven or eight months,” said Burnsville-Eagan-Savage Superintendent Randy Clegg.
“We won’t know for another year what the actual amount is,” Clegg said.
For area districts looking to stave off future budget deficits, the 2012 deadline is much more useful.
How to spend it
The $10 billion Education Jobs Fund Act was passed last month to provide “assistance to States to save or create education jobs for the 2010-11 school year,” according to the U.S. Department of Education’s official literature on the topic. The funds are a one-time distribution.
Districts can technically use the money during the 2011-12 school year, but the Department of Education is emphasizing the use of the money as soon as possible.
For at least two south-metro school districts which are facing $20 million deficits in the coming years and levy questions this fall, using the money this year is not an option.
“We are planning to recommend to our (school) board to utilize the funds for 2011-2012,” Solomon said.
The Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school district is facing $24 million in budget adjustments for that school year if voters do not approve this fall’s operating levy. Should they approve it, the gap would be about $8 million. The $5 million Jobs Fund allocation would help to ease the pain and reduce the need for the district to dip into savings to pay operating expenses.
“If the levy is successful, (the Jobs Fund dollars) would pretty much take away the need to reduce at all next year,” Solomon said.
The Lakeville school district, which faces $21 million in budget adjustments, will also put levy questions on the ballot this fall.
Even if Lakeville voters render a positive answer on the ballot, the district faces $3 million in adjustments for 2011-12. As with the neighbor to the north, Lakeville superintendent Gary Amoroso said the money will be used more appropriately next year.
“We will use the $2 million to help offset the deficit,” Amoroso said. “We appreciate the availability of the finds, but they don’t really assist in solving our next biennium deficit if we use them this year.”
Amoroso said he will discuss this with the board at its Sept. 16 meeting.
The Burnsville-Eagan-Savage school district is not in the same financial situation as its neighbors. There are no anticipated cuts, adjustments or levy questions.
The challenge for the district, Clegg said, is to make sure to balance the need for the funds with the considerations of the consequences of adding positions.
“We want to make sure not to create a ‘maintenance of effort’ situation where we have to continue an expenditure once the funds are gone,” Clegg said.
If the district adds a certain type of position, he said, state mandates may require them to fund it beyond the rest of the school year.
Clegg said the school board will discuss this issue soon, but the district is not expecting to use this money for a while.
Though it comes with caveats and waiting periods, and is only a one-time reimbursement for expenses, local school district officials all said they were thankful for the help.
“It’s one more year of being able to offer some programming and have some staffing we otherwise would not have,” Amoroso said.
E-mail Aaron Vehling at aaron.vehling@ecm-inc.com.
