School slashes budget: Revenue decrease forces board to act

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

April 2, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

Although it happened to be April Fool's Day, it was no joke that several teachers and assistants were cut from the 1997-98 Bemidji School District budget Tuesday.

The Bemidji School Board gathered at a noon special meeting to finalize budget cuts and adopt resolutions terminating contracts with more than 20 teachers and assistants, allowing Superintendent Rollie Morud to carry out his recommended cuts.

Facing budget constraints and decreased revenue, the board accepted the $800,000 figure at the March board meeting. According to Morud, had the district not made the cuts, the district's general fund balance of $1,979,358 as of June 30 would have been reduced to $354,215 as of June 30, 1998 -- the end of the next fiscal year.

The slated cuts -- which is about 2.5 percent of the district's budget -- have been set as follows: $150,000 in district services, $190,000 in kindergarten and elementary reductions, $235,000 in Middle School reductions and $225,000 Bemidji High School reductions.

In addition to the cuts and the remaining general fund balance, Morud said there are anticipated budget variances -- such as resignations and retirements and budget items that come in under expected expenditures -- of $300,000 for next year. The three should leave the district with a general fund balance of about $1,454,000 as of June 30, 1998.

However, the district will need to make another $800,000 in adjustments next year to keep from deficit spending, so this year's cuts were only half of the battle, Morud said in March.

"These cuts have been very painful, and from now on its major stuff we would have to cut unless we get more money," board member Nancy Eubanks said. "We're trying to put a little finger in a dike that's about to break."

Morud said with staff resignations and retirements and the replacement of some programs in the district, some of the teachers who were terminated will be hired back next year. However, at this time it is unknown as to how many will be working for the district again.