ELY- It’s official. At their April 13 meeting, the Ely School Board voted unanimously to move to a four-day school week, starting in September. The district has been dealing with significant budget shortfalls the last two years and estimates for this coming year’s shortfall have been growing steadily. The four-day week is seen as one way to address the funding gap.
“Six hundred thousand dollars is a huge target for our district,” said superintendent Anne Oelke, “after the cuts of the last two years.” A large donation of almost $215,000 from the Ely Educational Foundation, announced last month, will help with next year’s budget, but it still leaves a huge gap for the board to consider, Oelke said.
The move to a four-day week is estimated to save about $195,000, though that figure has been disputed. And the move to a four-day week will not solve all the district’s financial troubles, because it still leaves about a $200,000 gap to close.
Oelke said the financial challenges facing the district are not unique, and similar issues are being seen across the state. The Rock Ridge School Board was also considering a move to a four-day week, but this week their board voted to retain the five-day week. St. Louis County Schools moved to a four-day week beginning with the current school year.
Board member Rochelle Sjoberg said the board finance committee held off on making a recommendation for a four-day week last year, hoping to attract additional open enrollment students when Tower-Soudan and Northeast Range schools, both part of the county system, moved to a four-day week last year. That hoped-for enrollment gain never materialized, said Oelke, putting the question back on the table.
Board members clearly struggled with the decision, noting they had spent many months studying the financials, enrollment data, surveys, and impacts the change will have on students and their families.
Oelke said she was not ready to bring suggestions for the additional financial cuts needed, because the board had received two faculty resignations and one request for a leave of absence.
“We are seeing if we can fill these positions from within,” she said. “We will come to the May 11 board meeting with suggestions for reductions.”
Board member Tom Omerza said his priority was to maintain opportunities for students.
“The four-day week minimizes reductions in class offerings, preserves our district’s independence, reduces student and staff burnout, and increases access to academic supports,” he said.
“I feel fortunate we can pivot for the benefit of our students,” he added. “This doesn’t have us asking for a larger tax levy. Small changes will not work in my estimation.”
Sjoberg noted the district will continue to face challenges.
“I am grateful for the amount of time this board and community has had to review the data we put together…There is no decision that will please everybody.”
Sjoberg said the board will continue to address changes as they receive additional information and data.
Board member Tony Colarich said he feels terrible about making this decision, noting many of the factors contributing to the district’s financial situation are out of their control.
The move to a four-day week, at least as currently envisioned, would not impact extracurriculars and sports, board members said. Athletic director Tom Coombe said having no school on Fridays would mean students would not be missing class on Fridays when traveling to away games. He noted that both track and baseball students missed school last Friday.
Oelke told the board there is still a lot of work to be done. They are working with Minnesota North to find ways to keep more state aid from students doing PSEO, and they are also writing new grants. The district is seeing a significant rise in the number of students taking PSEO classes, with an estimated 56 percent of juniors and seniors participating next year, which means more lost state aid.
She said any legislative fixes to the property tax laws, that would let the district keep more funds from seasonal properties, or other educational reforms, are not something they can count on at this time.
Public comment
The media center was filled with over 30 attendees. Three spoke during public input, all in favor of keeping the five-day schedule.
Joe Weise said that while he understands the structural problems, he questioned the savings of moving to the four-day week. “This just makes the problem smaller,” he said. “Research shows that these savings are overstated.”
Weise also pointed to reductions in student achievement in district’s that moved to a four-day week.
“The research isn’t mixed,” he said. “The research shows students learn less than their peers in a five-day week.” Weise pointed to a significant drop in academic achievement in the Lake Superior school district, falling from 62-percent to 43-percent proficiency.
He also said this move transfers financial burdens onto families, and often to those who can least afford it. That includes day care expenses, and loss of income if a parent opts not to work on Fridays. He wondered if the district could attract more students from families who want a five-day option. “Twenty new students would generate $200,000,” he said, “that’s the savings from a four-day week.”
Sheila Angus, the union president for the AFSCME union that represents most of the district’s hourly employees told the board how the switch would impact these employees.
“We pride ourselves in putting the students first,” she said. “But this will cause a true hardship.”
She said they understand that cuts must be made but asked the board not to have the hourly workers shouldering the “weight of these cuts.”
Tom Roller, a parent of a first grader, told the board he is strongly opposed to the change.
“Our school is not a broken system,” he said. “This is not just a school issue, but a community one…We need to make our school the best in the area.”
Roller wondered about getting a half-percent increase in the city’s sale tax, a move he estimated would raise about $300,000 a year.
“Tourists would be paying a lot of it,” he said.
He also asked the board to look at other options to reduce costs, such as a shortened school day and more vacation breaks, both ways to reduce hourly costs.
“Extending vacations will help with staff retention,” he said.
Other business
Coombe reported that participation in spring sports is very high, with 161 students in grades 7–12 participating, which is close to two-thirds of the student body. He also reported that about 98 percent of the athletes were academically eligible, based on third quarter grades.
Board members approved the resignations of social studies teacher Tom McDonald and science teacher Logan McLouth, effective at the end of this school year, and approved a request from Kaley Hotaling for an extended leave of absence of three years beginning next year. They approved hiring Wendy Lindsay as assistant girls track coach, and approved volunteer coaching assignments for Jolene Schreffler (volleyball), Autumn Walker (volleyball), Jim Wittrup (baseball), and Cole Kellog (football).
There were no updates available on the athletic facility project. Tim Leeson said they were still meeting with the engineers and would have recommendations for changes and reductions for the next board meeting.
The board approved donations including $30,000 from the Ely Educational Foundation for a grant writer, $11,000 from the Braun family for the Bill Braun Press Box, $5,000 from the Ely Rotary Club for the senior class trip to Washington, D.C., and many smaller donations for the senior trip, knowledge bowl, and robotics.