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Anoka-Hennepin district facing $21M budget cuts
The Anoka-Hennepin school district faces a $21 million budget shortfall for the upcoming school year. The school board is meeting Monday night and is expected to decide on one of two options for addressing the shortage. FOX 9's Se Kwon has more.
ANOKA, Minn. (FOX 9) - Leaders of the state’s biggest school district are expected to address how to reduce $21 million from the upcoming school year’s budget during a board meeting Monday night.
What we know
The Anoka-Hennepin School District said a number of factors led to the district needing to reduce its expenditures by $26 million.
The district blames multiple factors for the shortfall, including the elimination of pandemic relief funds, higher than budgeted employee contract settlements, and the impact of inflation on transportation and other operations.
Leaders have been working on a reduction plan, and have already cut administrative staff and services by $5.1 million, but the school board still needs to address the remaining $21 million shortage, which could go one of two ways.
The first option would be to cut enough staff, to solve the shortage now, but it would lead to larger class sizes.
Option two involves fewer cuts, and asking voters for more funding through a referendum next year, which, if passed, wouldn’t take effect until the 2026 school year.
Anoka-Hennepin Schools Superintendent Cory McIntyre says students remain at the forefront. So, while these cuts could touch all departments in the district, leaders are trying to minimize the impact felt in classrooms.
The school board is expected to approve a budget reallocation plan for the 2025-26 school year during their meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.
What they’re saying
"To minimize the impact at the schools and all three of those scenarios, it’s a matter of what can we do centrally so that it’s not felt as deeply at the schools," said McIntyre. "There’s been a commitment to literacy behavior and our strong workforce and those are our strategic priorities. So, we’re trying to let those really guide how we make decisions."
Digging deeper
School districts across the county are struggling with budget shortfalls. Recent data show more than 70% of members of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts are facing budget shortfalls of more than $300 million for the next school years.
Minnesota school districts are no different, as dozens of districts are facing multi-million budget shortfalls. In Minneapolis, the budget gap is $110 million, while St. Paul Public Schools are already making cuts to address a $150 million deficit.