More than 30 people attended an informational meeting Wednesday, April 19 to learn about a referendum vote that will take place Nov. 7 to extend the operating levy that district voters overwhelmingly approved years ago.

The meeting was attended by Hastings Parent Teacher Association, community leaders, school board members, staff and community members.

The district currently has two locally approved operating levies to help support staffing, supplies and classroom learning. The levy that expires this year would mean a loss of $3 million annually to the district. The second levy runs through 2027.

The district is facing the same financial problems many Minnesota School Districts are. Enrollment is declining. Even with the residential building boom in Hastings, enrollment trends are expected to continue downward.

Also, district administration has pointed out the state education funding has not kept pace with inflation for nearly two decades. In addition, special education programming costs the district over $3 million more than it receives from state and federal funds.

The school board is expected to decide in June on the amount of additional funding taxpayers will be asked to support.

“Like with a home budget, we can reduce expenses, increase revenue or some combination of the two. Without additional revenue, significant reductions will be required for years into the future. These cuts are a temporary fix. We need a long-term plan to avoid further significant reductions,” said Superintendent Dr. Robert McDowell.

The school board has been forced to make several budget adjustments over the last three school years, totaling more than $3.5 million.

“Like many school districts across Minnesota, the Hastings Public School District continues to face financial challenges. A process to right our fiscal ship began three years ago with the first of three years of budget reeducations totaling more than $3.5 million. We’re estimating another budget shortfall for the next school year, and one of our two operating levies expires at the end of 2023, which will leave us short by another $3 million. Additionally, the district savings account will be gone in the next three years if nothing is done – sooner if the operating levy lapses,” said McDowell.

The district had a public opinion survey done in April to gauge support for the referendum and those results will be released this month.

A survey conducted last June found that there is widespread support of the district schools, with 65 percent of respondents giving Hastings Public Schools and A or B grade, compared to 44 percent of local schools nationally.

In addition:

• 65 percent gave the district an A or B on financial management.
• 89 percent believed it is important for students to have access to up-to-date technology for classroom learning.
• 92 percent believed that strong public schools and the well-being of the community are directly linked.
• If the district were to have additional funding, survey respondents believed it should be used for helping struggling students, providing options for college credit and providing mental health resources for students.

The district is also keeping a close eye on the current Minnesota legislative session.

“We’re excited about the possibility of game-changing revenue increases, but we’re concerned about the many, many mandates that are proposed that could wipe out those increases,” said McDowell. “We won’t know the true impact until the session is over in late May. Our business manager and financial consultant will closely monitor the impacts in the hopes that the ‘historic’ investment in public education is actually a positive for our school district.”
At the community engagement meeting, McDowell said the district is losing 20-30 students each year because of declining birth rates.

“Our kindergarten classes are well under 300 right now. Our high school classes that are over 300 are leaving,” he said.

He predicted classes of 2750285 “will be the Hastings new normal.”

The special education student population is increasing, nearing 20 percent.

“We have kindergarten classes right now where one of five kids is receiving some kind of special education,” said McDowell.

The district does have a $14.8 million fund balance. However, McDowell said that with levy, that would vanish in a few years and that the levy referendum the district presents to voters will likely have to be larger than the one it is replacing.
“A renewal gets us to where are, but those exponential costs keep going up,” he said.