By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

New York Mills School Superintendent Adam Johnson, along with Sebeka School Superintendent Dave Kerkvliet, recently testified at the State Capitol in St. Paul to give their input on the importance of the HF 957 bill before the House Education Finance Committee.

The HF 957 bill would open up state funding for school districts and would provide more flexibility concerning funding within each district. This would lessen restrictions on where funding would be designated. State Representative Krista Knudsen, who helped author the bill, sent an invitation to area superintendents to give them an opportunity to speak about their concerns and thoughts regarding HF 957.

“Mr. Kerkvliet and I went to the state capital and the Education Policy Committee in support of HF 957, which allows for more flexibility for school districts in regard to funding and mandates,” said Johnson of his trip to the capitol. “We were able to pull data to show how some school districts in the state are struggling financially, especially as costs and inflation continue to rise.

“New York Mills is in good financial standing, but the state has increased the amount of restricted funds that cannot be allowed for flexibility,” he continued. “The goal is to continue what we are doing and continue to improve, but with legislation and mandates, we have to fund programs as dictated by the state.”

Johnson and Kerkvliet both spoke in favor of the bill and gave their own testimonies on March 6. Johnson mentioned rising costs of health and employment insurances along with rising local levies as financial challenges to the district.

One specific item the bill, if passed, would help with is the immediate half-a-million-dollar roof repair needed at Sebeka School, Kerkvliet pointed out in his testimony. He said a temporary roof fix over the school’s food service area needs a more permanent fix, but some restricted food service funds cannot be used for that. This bill would enable the school to access these food service funds for the fix over the food service area. He said the school cannot wait much longer concerning this fix before the roof situation would be beyond repair and then the school runs the risk of no longer being able to have facility insurance.

“I feel it is of the utmost importance to communicate and educate legislators on the realities of Sebeka Public School’s facility, transportation, technology and curriculum needs,” Kerkvliet said. “With the recent challenge of trying to pass a referendum to fix our roofs, declining enrollment, and inflationary increases, I am looking for solutions that provide our school board with more local control of our current funds that would not add an additional burden to our taxpayers. This would help to take care of urgent needs of the district, and allow us to implement our locally developed strategic plan to best support our students.”

While no action was taken at the committee session as it was an informational session, the superintendents did their job and spoke as a voice of their community.

“I spoke in support of being able to use unallocated funds to help pay for other items, especially as costs continue to rise,” said Johnson. “New York Mills has growing enrollment and an extremely supportive school community and I am very grateful to be in the position we are in. What we want to do is to be able to be flexible to support our students and staff the best way that we feel is possible. In the future, the ability for school districts to be flexible, especially with funding, is important.

“It is important to meet with any legislators to help know what is truly going on in our schools,” he continued. “Being able to share our story can, hopefully, help lead to some changes in our school system. I appreciate their willingness to listen and to hear from schools and superintendents on what is truly happening in our school districts.”

Editor’s Note: Reporter Matthew Johnson contributed to this article.