MINNEAPOLIS — There are some tough decisions ahead for the Minneapolis Public Schools district as it deals with a $42 million deficit due to a drop in enrollment and dwindling COVID-19 federal funds.
On Tuesday, the school board voted on a $754,577,561 operating budget and despite new legislative dollars, it's likely the district will have to close buildings and lay off staff.
"We understand, and our finance department has been telling us for five to seven years, that we're operating as if we have 50,000 students and we don't," said MPS board member Kim Ellison. "We're down to 28,000 students and we need to rightsize the district."
Ellison said families are having fewer children, opting to enroll in other districts and charter schools, meaning revenue can't keep up with its costs. In a financial projection memo from last year, the district said it expects its general fund to be fully depleted by the 2024-2025 school year.
Ellison said that will lead to building closures, combining certain programs and even firing staff.
"Those are all things the district and the board have been grappling with and things we need to do to ensure the district stays solvent," said Ellison.
For several years, the district also relied on federal pandemic funds to balance its budget, but that memo says the money runs out next fall. It called the financial crisis "imminent."
While the future seems uncertain for many families, Ellison said she's confident in the school board's decisions and says it's working as quickly as it can to make sure the students it can serve get a quality education.
"We can’t deliver on everything and part of that is because of the number of students we serve," said Ellison. "We are going to make sure that every single student we do serve, though, has the quality education that they deserve."
Last year, the district did suggest adding three more students per staff member, saying it not only aligns MPS with other large districts, but it could save the district $50 million a year.
In the short term, the district is using $2.9 million of the "tens of millions" it says the legislature just approved on safety and security upgrades, mental health resources and data protection after the district was the victim of a cyber attack several months ago.
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