LEGISLATOR/SCHOOL LEADER BREAKFAST FORUM

Co-Hosted by Southeast Service Cooperative and MASA Region 1

Saturday, February 7, 20158:30 AM to Noon

Southeast Service Cooperative

FORUM PROGRAM• Education Themes in the 2015 Legislature

Bruce Klaehn, Superintendent of Schools - Dover-Eyota

• Positive Impact – 2014 LOR LegislationRachel Udstuen, Superintendent of Schools – Spring Grove

• Facilities Needs FundingMike Redmond, Superintendent of Schools – Goodhue

• Local Tax Relief and Debt EqualizationMark Matuska, Superintendent of Schools – Kasson-Mantorville

• Early Childhood FundingDavid Krenz, Superintendent of Schools - AustinAmy Baskin, Director of Community Education and Communications – Austin

• Testing Reduction Advisory Work GroupRich Dahman, Superintendent of Schools – Medford

• 504 RequirementsTammy Berg-Beniak, Superintendent of Schools – Pine Island

• Basic Formula IncreaseEd Harris, Superintendent of Schools – ChatfieldChris Richardson, Superintendent of Schools – Northfield

• Two Future ConsiderationsBruce Klaehn, Superintendent of Schools – Dover-Eyota

The Positive Impact

of the 2014 LOR

LegislationRachel Udstuen, Superintendent of Schools, Spring Grove

Spring Grove School District

Our Story

Local Optional Revenue

$424

Referendum Renewal

November 2014

Existing Referendum $1461.50Local Optional Revenue -$424New Referendum $1037.50

Existing Referendum $1461.50Local Optional Revenue -$424New Referendum $1037.50

Asked our taxpayers to renew the referendum at the existing amount

Additional Revenue $65,000/year

Looking Forward

School Facilities Finance

Mike RedmondSuperintendent of the Goodhue Schools

Complex Topic

• Facilities finance has been studied for quite some time in Minnesota

• Tom Melcher led a task force

• School Facilities Financing Work Group

• Some discussion during the 2014 legislative session (thank you for raising the $ threshold for Review & Comment)

• Further discussion since the end of the 2014 legislative session

• An issue of equity and efficiency

Simple View of the Complex Topic

Simple View of the Complex Topic– Part Two

‘Hot’ Topic

• Minnesota Rural Education Association (MREA) Hot Topics (January 20th legislative update)

• Referred to SF 76, which would expand the alternative facilities program to all school districts as recommended by the School Facilities Task Force as our “top priority for this session”.

• Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA) Legislative Platform (funding)

• Provide comprehensive facilities revenue reform that encompasses alternative facilities, deferred maintenance, health & safety, capital projects, technology infrastructure, and debt service funding streams for all districts. Each funding stream must include improvement to equalization factors and be indexed where allowable for inflation.

• Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA)– 2015 Legislative Platform

• Implement the unanimous recommendations of the School Facilities Financing Work Group. This will empower board members to provide a safe and secure learning environment for all students.

Equity

• Currently, the 25 largest school districts spend $2.79 per square foot on facility maintenance because they qualify for Alternative Facilities authority.

• The remaining 305 school districts do not qualify for Alternative Facilities authority and thus spend $0.58 per square foot on facility maintenance.

--------------------------------------------

• Do you know what they do in the 25 qualifying districts when they’ve patched the roof to the point where patching is no longer the prudent strategy, and the roof begins to leak?

• How about in the remaining 305 districts when they reach the same point and the roof begins to leak?

Efficiency

• Better school maintenance leads to longer lasting school buildings and equipment, and a better school environment for students.

• BETTER LEARNING ENVIRONMENT = BETTER LEARNING

• Some districts are currently ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ when it comes to maintaining buildings and equipment

• Some of the money is coming directly from classrooms (from the General Fund)

• Some districts simply can’t afford to ‘pay now’ and will be socked with a bigger bill ‘later’

• Some districts simply can’t afford the ounce of prevention today, and will end up paying for the pound of cure at a later date

Example• The Goodhue Schools has done a very good job of

working to maintain facilities within very challenging financial constraints.

• Recently, the Goodhue Schools has used Equipment Certificates/Facilities Bonds to ‘borrow against capital funds’ in order to accelerate work on windows, sidewalks, and parking lots.

• This effort is resolving some of the facilities concerns, but leaves some concerns unresolved:

• Strong hope and desire for no major roof ‘issues’ for at least the next five years (length of the bonds)

• Parking lot and shed

Parking Lot and Shed

• This parking lot will likely be resealed again.

• The garage shed has four stalls. The district has seven vehicles (including the tractor for grounds work)

Please Give Serious Consideration to Adopting the Recommendations of the School Facilities Financing Work Group led by Tom Melcher

Answer to the Next Question

• Consolidate varying facility revenues (alternative facilities, deferred maintenance, and health & safety) into one Facility Maintenance program, bringing the 305 districts up to the same level as the 25, by enhancing state aid and giving local school boards equalized levy authority for this purpose.

• Increase state aid for capital.

THANK YOU!

Task Force Recommendations for the

2015 legislature

Local Tax Relief through Debt Service Equalization

Mark Matuska, Superintendent of Schools – Kasson-Mantorville

Annual Net Tax Capacity for Local Schools

ANTC/Pupil

Dover-Eyota $3,643Kasson-Mantorville $3,938Byron $4,134Stewartville $5,048Pine Island $5,077

State Average $6,973

*Ehlers – MDE Pay 2015 Levy Worksheets

Property Poor School Districts

Issues:

●Many SE Minnesota Schools are Property Poor Districts

●Tax Impact to Local Homeowners and Farmers Increases Dramatically Due to Limited Industry

●State of Minnesota Provides Bond Equity $ to Reduce Impact on Local Taxpayers, but no significant updates since 2001

Task Force Recommendations

Reduce Individual Property Taxes for School Debt in Property Poor Districts

● Eliminate Two -Tiered Threshold developed in 2000○ 15.74% of ANTC for Tier 1 and 26.24% of ANTC

for Tier 2

● Establishes a New Threshold of 10% of Annual Net Tax Capacity

● Establishes and Indexes a New Equalization Factor○ 125% of Statewide Average of ANTC ○ Current Average ANTC $6,973 x 125% =

$8,716.25

What it Means to Your Local Taxpayers

Current Current New

Debt Levy State Aid State Aid

Dover-Eyota $ 1,536,166 $ 145,408 $ 612,533Kasson-Mantorville $ 4,275,121 $ 905,909 $ 1,861,126Byron $ 3,452,375 $ 639,171 $ 1,388,127 Stewartville $ 2,143,774 $ 0 $ 454,493Pine Island $ 2,101,987 $ 140,380 $ 604,288

*Ehlers – MDE Pay 2015 Levy Worksheets

What it Means to Your Local Taxpayers

Annual Tax

Reduction for Local

Taxpayers

Kasson-Mantorville $ 955,216Byron $ 748,956Dover-Eyota $ 467,126Stewartville $ 454,953Pine Island $ 463,908

*Ehlers – MDE Pay 2015 Levy Worksheets

What it Means to Your Local Taxpayers

Annual Tax Reduction on:

Residential Home Ag Land $175,000 240 Acres @

$9,000/Acre

Kasson-Mantorville $ 171$2,400Dover-Eyota $ 146$1,920Byron $ 145 $1,920

Stewartville $ 93 $1,440Pine Island $ 110 $1,440

*Ehlers – MDE Pay 2015 Levy Worksheets

Impact to the State Budget

Current Debt Aid $23.0 M Proposed Aid Increase (2017) $67.6 M

Total $90.6 M

Letter of Support to our local State Legislators Townships

Mantorville Mayor Local EDA

*Ehlers – MDE Pay 2015 Levy Worksheets

The Economic Case for

Investing in Early ChildhoodDavid Krenz, Superintendent - Austin

Amy Baskin, Director of Community Education and Communications - Austin

Educational Characteristics of the Labor ForceMillions of Workers Age 25 and Over

Source: Ellwood (2001)

Early Childhood Education and the Impact

on our Workforce

30 Million Word Gap

Human Brain DevelopmentSynapse Formation Dependent on Early Experiences

FIRST YEAR

-8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Birth (Months) (Years)

Sensory Pathways(Vision, Hearing)

LanguageHigher Cognitive Function

Source: C. Nelson (2000)

Barriers to Social Mobility Emerge at a Very Young Age

16 mos. 24 mos. 36 mos.

Cu

mu

lati

ve V

ocab

ula

ry (

Word

s)

College Educated Parents

Welfare Parents

Child’s Age (Months)

200

600

1200

Source: Hart & Risley (1995)

Benefits

Higher graduation rates Higher % of people attending 4 year college Higher % of skilled workers Higher % of people that own their own

homes Higher % of people earning more and having

a savings account.

Source: High Scope Educational Research Foundation

Benefits

Consistently better achievement test scores in elementary school, then much better achievement test scores at age 14

Fewer children placed in special education Lower crime rates Lower % of people receiving social services Reduction in teen pregnancy

Source: High Scope Educational Research Foundation

Return on Investment

Perry Preschool Project◦ Benefit – Cost Ratio = $16 to $1◦ Annual Rate of Return = 18%◦ Public Rate of Return = 16%

Source: Rob Grunewald Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Additional Research

Abecedarian Educational Childcare ($4 to $1)◦ Full-day, year-round program near Chapel Hill, N.C.

Children from low-income families were randomly selected to attend Abecedarian or control group.

Chicago Child-Parent Centers ($7 to $1)◦ Half-day, large-scale program in Chicago public schools.

Comparison group was a sample of eligible nonparticipants.

Elmira Prenatal/Early Infancy Project ($5 to $1)◦ Home visiting program by registered nurses for at-risk mothers,

prenatal through first two years of child’s life. Randomly selected participants were compared with a control group.

Source: Rob Grunewald Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Minnesota EC Funding

Early Childhood Scholarship Program◦ Parent Aware

School Readiness

Early Childhood Family Education

Challenges

Funding

Space

Access for at-risk families

Transportation

Alignment between providers

Opportunities

Allow flexibility of spending for ECFE funds

Fully fund 4 year old programming

Allow levy for lease to be used by smaller districts to address space needs for programming

Encourage and reward local autonomy

90% of a child’s

critical brain development happens by

age 5!

Sources www.minneapolisfed.org

www.minneminds.com

www.highscope.org

www.developingchild.harvard.edu

http://centerforeducation.rice.edu/slc/LS/30MillionWordGap.html

Testing ReductionAdvisory Work Group

Update

February 7, 2015

Rich Dahman, Superintendent of Schools - Medford

Background Governor Dayton tasked Commissioner Cassellius

with convening a Testing Reduction Advisory Work Group to provide a foundation for discussion and make recommendations to reduce testing.

The group looked at streamlining the assessment system while still maintaining accountability for high standards for all Minnesota students.

22 members, representing groups including: School Boards Principals Education MN Business Groups Assessment Coordinators Higher Ed NREA, SEE MSBA, MASA, MASE, MDE

Advisory Work Group

Loss of instructional time

Loss of availability of computer labs

Testing fatigue

Accountability for student growth

Cost (staffing, technology – hardware, infrastructure)

Testing Concerns

Required Assessments: ACCESS for English Language Learners

MCA/MTAS for grades 3-8 and High School in Math, Reading, and Science

Career and College Ready Assessments (CCRA) Explore for Grade 8 PLAN for Grade 10 COMPASS for many students ACT for Grade 11

MN Assessment Snapshot

Optional Assessments (district-chosen):

AIMS Web ASVAB CogAT DRA NWEA-MAP OLPA PSA ETC

MN Assessment Snapshot

Grade-banding MCAs at grades 3-8

Eliminate High School MCA (all)

Eliminate High School MCA (Science)

Eliminate mandatory ACT

Reduce need for optional assessments

Options considered

Keep MCAs as is for grades 3-8 Administer a college-entrance exam to all students

in either grade 11 or 12 (ACT) Keep MCA Reading (grade 10), and Math (11) Administer one consistent career interest survey to

all students in grades 8 and 10 Eliminate EXPLORE, PLAN, Compass, and MCA

Science (HS)

Committee Recommendations

Importance of accountability to meeting standards Progress has been made in MN assessments Assessments should measure standards Loss of instruction time Loss of Media Center, Computer Labs Vendor issues Cost – unfunded mandate

What we see in Medford:

Essentials of 504 Tammy Berg-Beniak

Financial Uncertainty in Pine Island Schools

Overview of 504

1973: Congress passes the Rehabilitation Act.1976: Congress passes the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, later the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).1977: After sit-ins and demonstrations in Washington DC and Los Angeles, regulations implementing Section 504 are signed.1990: Congress passes the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which extends Section 504 to the private sector.2008: Congress passes the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA), which broadens the definition of disability in the ADA and Section 504.

Important Information about Section 504

1.Section 504 is NOT a special education law.

2.Section 504 is a civil rights law.3.Section 504 is not as specific a law as the

IDEA.4.Section 504 contains NO funding.5.The eligibility criteria in Section 504 was

changed by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.

District Responsibilities under 504

• Child Find• The district is responsible to recognize and support “qualified

individuals with a disability.• Examples include:• Allergies, Broken Limbs, Cancer, Asthma, Temporary

conditions, ADD/ADHD, Dyslexia, Depression, Autism, Bipolar disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Past drug/alcohol addition, Intellectual Disability

• Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)• This does not just mean that “accommodations” are

provided.• Districts MUST provide adequate staff, equipment, and

facilities for a 504 student.• Districts MUST provide related services and will be found

in violation if the needed services are unavailable or if the district believes services are too expensive.

What exactly does this mean?

Just a couple examples in Pine Island:

Diabetes - high school student needing insulin*Nurse must be hired to attend all school sponsored events

- music trips, music contests, FCLLA activities, athletics, etc…

*Student with Oppositional Defiant Disorder – separate transportation is provided on a daily basis.

Why such a concern?

Directly from MDE:

• A 504 plan is based on the student’s individual needs. There are NO LIMITS as to what can be on a student’s plan.• Examples include: physical modifications,

provision of health-related services during the school day, instructional supports, modified curriculum, homebound instruction, tutoring, a one-to-one aide, a behavior intervention plan, specialized transportation, etc…

As we work to ensure that our building operations are as effective and efficient has possible, 504 expectations put us in a vulnerable state. While the approach to 504 varies greatly by district, 504 has recently become a buzz word in our system. To be perfectly honest, this personally has me very concerned. The only way to support these additional needs is through our general fund.

Thank you for all you do to support the children of Minnesota

Basic Formula Increase

Ed Harris, Chatfield Schools & Chris Richardson, Northfield Schools

Two Thoughts

for this and

Future Legislative Sessions

Bruce Klaehn, Superintendent of Schools, Dover-Eyota

“WE KEEP POURING MONEY INTO SCHOOLS”

There are reasons for that.

EVERY NEW REQUIREMENT COSTS MONEYTeacher Evaluation

Integration

Bullying

Auditing

Testing

Special Ed / 504

Note: Please do not label money to provide additional free meals to students as “money to Education”. It’s not.

From FY 2010 to FY 2013, student enrollment grew by 9,800 students in Minnesota public schools.

From the 2000 Census to the 2010 census, Minnesota’s population grew by 380,000 residents, and the US Census Bureau estimates an additional growth of 150,000 by 2014, an overall increase of 10.75%.

Over the past three years, the per-student funding formula has increased by 3.5% while inflation has increased by 6.4%.

69

“WHY ARE SCHOOLS THE ONLY PUBLIC ENTITY REQUIRED TO HOLD BOND ISSUE REFERENDUMS?”Is it simply because “that’s how we’ve always done it”?

Not required of State, Cities or Counties.

School Referendums used as the “sacrificial lamb” for anti-tax sentiment.

Referendums are costly, both in terms of finances and community relationships.

Defeated referendums often lead to greater construction costs when eventually approved.

Significant contributor to the current crisis of school facilities.

School Boards understand how to be respectful of their taxpayers.

1. Set a debt limit – exceeding would require a vote.

2. Index state debt service aid calculations.

3. Allow pre-construction levy to “save up” for future construction and more fairly distribute the burden.

PROPER SCHOOL FACILITIES ARE AN ONGOING RESPONSIBILITY OF LOCAL AND STATE TAXPAYERS.

I have come to greatly appreciate the difficult work you face as legislators. THANK YOU for your service.

I hope you can appreciate the difficulty of our tasks as well, and the heavy dependence we have on you to do those tasks effectively.

THANK YOU