“The referendum failed, so now what?
Since the MAPS operation referendum failed in November, I get asked that question a lot around town, and the answer has been evolving over the past few months. However, we are at a place now where I can share a pretty clear picture of the “now what”.
After the referendum failed in November, we decided to take a pause and just let the dust settle for a few weeks. However, we also knew we had a few things to address moving forward. First, while more people voted in favor of the referendum this time around than the previous time, it still failed. We wanted to learn why. Secondly, we needed to decide whether or not to go back to referendum again already this April. And finally, significant budget reductions were going to have to be made for next school year, the likes of which have never been seen at MAPS before.
To get a better understanding of why the referendum failed, we surveyed families and community members and one thing became immediately clear: the community’s views regarding the Jefferson Elementary closure, the fact that Jefferson remains empty, and the uncertainty regarding the future of that building, all played a major role in the failure of the November referendum. That had to be addressed.
Now, I have been pretty clear on the Jefferson Elementary issue throughout the summer and fall and, in fact, we have hired an outside firm to do a complete facilities study of our district to understand how MAPS can make the best use of all of our buildings–including Jefferson Elementary–moving forward. That study is taking place as I write this column (more on this facilities study next month) and it will be completed later this spring. Unfortunately, the fact that Jefferson Elementary (and all of the issues surrounding it) weighs so heavily on the minds of voters, combined with the notion that we won’t have the facility study completed until spring, meant that it would be almost impossible to overcome that hurdle by the upcoming April election. As a result, MAPS elected not to go back to referendum this spring and to wait until those issues could be resolved.
This leaves us facing unprecedented budget cuts for next year. As I shared throughout the months leading up to the election, MAPS is dealing with three challenges that are coming together at once to create a perfect storm. First, federal COVID funds (ESSER) expire next year, so those funds go away. Second, we continue to face declining enrollment, which means we have to continue to right-size our district through budget reductions. Third, the expired funds tied to the past referendum, combined with the ongoing challenges provided through inadequate State funding, lead to additional and greater challenges than we have had to face in the past.
The first two issues are relatively “easy”. We knew the ESSER funds would be ending and could plan for that.
As for declining enrollment, we also plan for that and adjust to that each year, because it’s the right thing to do. These reductions take place every year, and you can see evidence of that all over the district. In fact, the consolidation of our elementary schools and the closure of Jefferson Elementary are a direct result of addressing declining enrollment and right-sizing.
Adjusting to the lost funds from the previous referendum (and the most recent failed referendum), combined with inadequate State funds and rising costs, is much harder though.
As a result of all of these things, MAPS will have to cut between $4 and $5 million from the budget for next year. Here’s how that breaks out–the ESSER funds ending account for about $1 million, declining-enrollment-related cuts will be another $1 million, and a successful referendum would have preserved the $2.5 million in programs, positions, and opportunities for our students that are now under consideration to be cut. There’s also been talk of dipping into our fund balance to help reduce the impact. However, budget cuts at that depth will affect every corner of the district.
This month, I will share my budget reductions proposal with the Board and, I’m guessing, it will be discussed and debated for some time. The proposal touches everything in the district–teachers, custodians, administration, school forest programming, support staff, bus routes, buildings, athletics, extra curricular activities, Head Start programming, books, technology, maintenance, tech ed, college prep, Fab Lab programming, special education–everything will be impacted. At the level of cuts we are talking about, it has to.
None of the decisions we face this winter and spring are going to be pleasant or easy, and every single one will impact our students in one way or another. Throughout the process, we will communicate what the cuts ultimately end up being and encourage everyone to stay informed in these developments. The education and growth of our children is the cornerstone of a successful community, and the awareness and involvement of the adults in our community is a key part of that equation.
–Shannon Murray
Superintendent