Minneapolis Real Estate Blog

The $652 million spending plan is up 2.4 percent, even with fewer students expected when classes resume.

The Minneapolis school board voted Tuesday night to adopt a $652 million budget for next school year that officials said better reflects the academic priorities of the district.That budget is up 2.4 percent, despite the expectation that 1,600 fewer students will enroll in district schools next fall, requiring 63 fewer teachers. In part that increase reflects the approval by the Legislature of $16 million more than the amount of state aid anticipated when the budget was drafted.

One academic priority in the budget is money to buy new math textbooks for elementary and middle school students. They’ll be put to use in the 2008-09 school year after teachers are trained. There’s also money to beef up International Baccalaureate programs at Northeast and Anwatin middle schools.

The district faced a $16 million gap between projected spending and expenses when budget discussions began in January. It dipped into reserves for half of that and made operating cuts for the balance.

The district cut busing costs by $1.8 million by making bus scheduling changes that offered charter and nonpublic schools less favorable times. The savings came from more efficient routing and some nondistrict schools opting to arrange their own buses.

The district also plans to close its three-person musical instrument repair shop, which has operated since the early 1950s. It will send instruments out for repairs.

The school board recently was told by finance chief Peggy Ingison that it ended the 2005-2006 school year with a $30 million available fund balance. That’s the best since at least the mid-1990s.

The district drew down $6 million of that to balance the past school year’s budget and is planning to use $8 million in the upcoming year. That cuts the balance to about $18 million, with Ingison projecting at least a $30 million budget gap over the following two years as enrollment declines more. That requires more cost-cutting, she said.

Meanwhile, the board voted to pursue negotiating the first lease of district classroom space to a charter school, Oh Day Aki, which it sponsors.

By Steve Brandt, Star Tribune