When a bond measure in 2024 to raise funds for the district failed, leaders within the Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools district set forth on the difficult task of finding budget cuts to keep the district on track.
After months of deliberation and with a $4 million cut already in hand for the 2024-25 year, district officials say they have a consensus on another $4.1 million dollars in cuts for next school year.
Among next year’s budget cuts are staffing reductions, increased class sizes and the closing of facilities. PLSAS superintendent Michael Thomas said Friday that the programs cut were not an indicator of new district priorities.
“Rather, [the reductions] are a necessary step to ensure we remain fiscally responsible while continuing to serve our students and community as effectively as possible,” he said in a letter to families in the district.
Targeted classroom sizes will change across all levels, creating the largest portion of savings by eliminating teaching and staff positions. Between changing staffing models for special education paraprofessionals, increasing elementary school class size targets and increasing the minimum capacity for middle and high school classes, PLSAS stands to trim more than $2.5 million.
The district will make changes to its facilities, as well. The MNCAPS program, a profession-based immersion learning program, is planned to move from its leased space to Prior Lake High School. The district is also moving to close the aging pool facility at Twin Oaks Middle School.
Other cuts include eliminating the Laker Online program and reducing some of the technology used in classrooms, such as reducing the use of tablets in kindergarten and first grade classrooms.
Future cuts
The projected budget shortfall only worsens beyond next school year, and the district is considering additional measures.
The closing of other buildings may be on the horizon. The District Services Center is under discussion for closure, Thomas said, and PLSAS officials are beginning to explore the closure of an elementary school in the 2026-27 academic year.
“While we will do our best to mitigate the impact, we recognize that these changes will be felt by many in our school community,” Thomas said.
Finding aid
There are relatively few options available to the board to help alleviate the budget crunch. The board hosted the state congressional delegation at its February board meeting, where it emphasized the need for an update to the state’s 54-year-old funding formula, and further called for the full funding of statewide mandates.
“This (formula) was built for a growing population and now we have a declining one,” said Dan White, PLSAS board chair, to state legislators in February. “It’s the foundation for everything that we’re able to do and it’s crumbling.”
Many districts across Minnesota are facing a bleak financial outlook, Thomas told attendees of the district’s January town hall meeting about the budget.
“We’re not alone in this situation,” he said. “We’re in a really structurally challenging space as a state, and one thing I would encourage you to become more active in is that state-level advocacy.”
