How Anoka-Hennepin schools could close a $21 million budget gap

The Anoka-Hennepin school district, the largest in Minnesota, is weighing how to close a $21 million budget gap for next year. Possible solutions could mean larger class sizes and cuts to dozens of positions district-wide. Or taxpayers may be asked to pay more to support school operations.

“At the end of the day, we are going to make a lot of hard choices and even the best path will be a difficult path,” said Board Member Zach Arco at the September board meeting.

The board is expected to discuss the proposed cuts at its meeting Monday evening. This is the second phase of a budget reduction process that cut more than 40 positions and $5 million from the district’s central office and administrative departments for this budget year.

Superintendent Cory McIntyre said the cuts are necessary because of a “convergence of factors” hitting most districts in the state, including weak enrollment growth, the sunsetting of pandemic relief funds, inflation, higher-than-budgeted raises in employee contract settlements and new mandates from the state.

The first of two proposed options is billed as the “cut now, act now” route. It would axe another $7 million from the central office and administrative offices by eliminating another 90 to 100 positions. (The first phase of the plan cut 50 central office staff for this school year.) If approved, the additional cuts would shrink the number of central office positions by more than a third from two years ago.

“We are already very lean” at the central office, McIntyre said, adding that additional cuts are “really going to challenge us, but I know the intent is to continue to make sure we can do everything we can at the classroom level.”

As part of that option, school-level reductions would increase elementary class sizes would by one student. Middle and high school classes would grow, too; starting next school year, the average middle school class would jump from 29 to 33. The average high school class would have 34 students.

The second option would make fewer cuts now, draw down the district’s reserve funds and then go to voters for more money. It involves eliminating dozens of instructional coaches and student interventionist positions earlier than planned, cutting another $5 million from district and central office services and using money from the general fund to maintain other expenses until 2025, when the district (pending board approval) would ask voters for an operating referendum.

If approved, that approach would drop the district’s fund balance to 6% of general fund expenditures. The current board policy is to maintain a fund balance of at least 10% of general fund expenditures.

Anoka-Hennepin’s current operating referendum brings in about $1,154 per student, but the state-allowed cap is about $2,200 per student. If increased to the cap amount, a referendum would bring in another $40 million, McIntyre said.

According to community feedback collected through surveys and community meetings over the last month, nearly 90% of respondents said they supported a referendum. Parents and families also expressed concern about growing class sizes as a result of cuts.

The two options have already been revised based on board members’ requests to reduce cuts that would mean fewer teachers at schools, McIntyre said.

At one point in the discussion, the district floated changes to middle and high school class schedules to save money, but that was removed after board member feedback. At the board’s meeting last month, several board members thanked district staff for transparency about potential cuts and responsiveness to board and community feedback.

“I would encourage people to keep asking questions,” Board Member Michelle Langenfeld said at the September board meeting, “because as we unfold more information, the opportunity becomes greater for us to make the most informed decision under these very, very difficult circumstances.”

Board members will vote on a path forward at the November 25 meeting.