EDITORIAL: Declining schools

The effort of the neighboring McLeod West school district to cut costs by consolidating classes next year to its Brownton school and closing its Stewart school is as emotional a topic covered by this newspaper as any in recent memory.
But, McLeod West is not the only Minnesota school district with big worries.
Glencoe’s school district is in operating debt. Hutchinson voters have said no to two plans for new school buildings. Management of the Atwater, Cosmos and Grove City district will be turned over to the state if it doesn’t get out of debt soon.
What do all of these districts have in common? A need for money. Local taxpayers can and should do what they can to support schools. But, a bigger force is moving across Minnesota that will sweep many rural Minnesota schools to the brink of extinction unless something is done.
A report prepared by Greg Crowe for the Minnesota House last year said, “Statewide, by 2009, it is projected that 272 of 343 school districts (or 79 percent) will be experiencing declining enrollment. However, much of that decline will be occurring in rural Minnesota.”
Since districts get operating money from the state based on the number of students, fewer students in nearly 80 percent of Minnesota’s schools means 80 percent of Minnesota’s school districts will need to cut expenses and buildings to survive. As enrollment continues to go down, many districts will close.
A building crisis at these existing schools is looming, too. Many of Minnesota’s school buildings were built more than 40 years ago, and need fixing. Without enough money to operate, schools can’t keep up with repairs.
The state, in its wisdom, decided to “take over” local property taxes in 2001 collected for schools and pays all Minnesota school districts the money needed to operate.