Mountain Lake Public, Windom Area Public superintendents make presentation to respective school boards at joint meeting
Mountain Lake Public School (MLPS) Superintendent Bill Strom and Windom Area Public School (WAPS) Superintendent Wayne Wormstadt have spent a great deal of time together in conversation – whether traveling in the same vehicle to-and-from events, on the phone or face-to-face at their respective schools.
Over time, those discussions have revolved around, and then centered on, how best the two school districts could cooperate through sharing, thereby reducing costs for each school; provide suitable and sustainable staffing and inject opportunities for the students in each district.
In fact, the administrators drove home the importance of those points during their interactive powerpoint presentation to their respective boards at a joint meeting on Tuesday evening, March 10, in held the MLPS Elementary Library – and also attended by interested members of the general public. The two school districts – located 10 miles apart along the Minnesota State Highway #60 corridor – already have many collaborative ventures between them, with, the superintendents emphasized, an eclectic array of additional cooperative opportunities “out there.”
And that sharing, collaboration and cooperation does not straightline to consolidation – or – “the elephant in the room,” according to MLPS Board Clerk Julie Brugman. Added Superintendent Wormstadt, “Collaboration does not have to go to consolidation.”
The MLPS Board extended the invitation for a joint meeting in the MLPS facility with Superintendent Strom and Superintendent Wormsatdt to the WAPS Board after the two superintendents sent a letter to each of the boards outlining what they had crafted during their various dialogues. As MLPS Board Chair Doug Standerwick welcomed the WAPS Board Members to Mountain Lake, he enthused that he was, “Looking forward to an informative and productive dialogue.”
Attending for the MLPS Board were – Chair Doug Standerwick, Vice-Chair Tim Swoboda, Clerk Julie Brugman, Treasurer Pam Hoek and Board Members Chad Pedersen, Matt Gohr and Tom Fast.
Representing the WAPS Board were – Chair Joan Hunter, Vice-Chair Don Brugman, Clerk Barb Jones, Treasurer Rick Fredericksen and Board Members Joe LaCanne and Jim Garrison. Absent was Board Member Travis Bretzman.
It was a more detailed delivery than a letter that the two school administrators presented Tuesday evening, laying out each school’s stats and numbers to their boards and others. As they moved through the display, Superintendent Strom, who is in his 16th year at MLPS, and Superintendent Wormstadt, in his seventh year with WAPS, solicited comments from members of both school boards – and a “Q & A” time was held at the conclusion of the powerpoint.
Stats, numbers on the Mountain Lake, Windom Public School Districts
Just as the population of the City of Mountain Lake is approximately 1/2 that of the City of Windom, so, too, are the school district comparisons, including total student enrollment, staff numbers and budget.
There are 478 students – in grades K-12 – in the MLPS District, with 979 attending WAPS.
MLPS saw an increase of minority students, especially Asian/Pacific during the 1990s, with WAPS having its minority student population rising 10% over the last seven years.
The following information comparing the two districts was culled from the 2014 Minnesota Department of Education Report Card.
Student ethnicity comparisons are as follows –
* At MLPS, the student population is 63.1% White (not Hispanic), as compared to 75.2% at WAPS.
* The Asian/Pacific percentage of students is 13.5% at MLPS and 2.9% at WAPS.
* The Hispanic student percentages are relatively comparable – 20.1% at MLPS; 17.9% at WAPS.
* Black (not Hispanic) students attending MLPS account for 2.6% of the student population, with the same slightly higher, at 3.1% at WAPS.
* The final area of comparison in student population was of American Indian/Alaskan Native. At MLPS, the percentage is 0.6% and is 0.9% at WAPS.
When it comes to special student populations attending in each school district, the comparisons are –
* English Language Learner students at MLPS are 10.7% of the student population and 9.4% at WAPS.
* In Special Education, the percentage at MLPS is 18.5% and 18% at WAPS.
* The last area compared was Free/Reduced Lunch. The ratio breaks down with 53.4% of students at MLPS eligible and 46.1% at WAPS.
At MLPS, the Class of 2014 graduated 37 students, while WAPS handed out diplomas to 54. Ironically, the Class of 2014 at MLPS was the largest class of graduates from the past five years (2010-2014), while at WAPS, last spring’s graduating class featured the smallest class for those same years. The MLPS Class of 2011 had the smallest number of graduates with 23, and at WAPS, the Class of 2011 and Class of 2013 shared top honors with 69 graduates. Looking at the five-year graduation average, MLPS records 31.6 graduates a year and WAPS, 60.8.
The number of teachers on staff at MLPS is 39; and at WAPS, 81 – while administrator comparisons have MLPS with three and WAPS, 3.3 (the WAPS Board is considering adding a new full-time administrative position, “Director of Teaching and Learning/4-6 Principal”). In compiling the total numbers of staff positions (including teachers, administrators, media specialists, other licensed instructors, paraprofessionals and other staff, MLPS has 80.1 staff members, to 161.8 for WAPS.
Teacher/student ratios at each school sport positive numbers – 13 to 1 for both school districts. (The state average is 17-to-18 students to 1.
The average age of buildings on the MLPS school campus is 72.83, with the last building project completed in 1970. At WAPS. 39.83 is the average building age, with the 2001 Middle School addition the most recent building project. However, a series of Honeywell efficiency upgrades were done in 2007 to four of the district’s buildings, including two built in 1951 and two in 1963.
The MLPS buildings amount to school facilities of 162,073 square feet or 327 square feet per student. WAPS facilities feature 296,891 square feet for 295 square feet per student. The Minnesota state average is 403 square feet per student.
Both districts see more budget expenditures than revenue – spending more money than they are taking in. At MLPS, revenues for 2014 were $5,889,322, while expenditures were $6,103.622.
At WAPS, last year’s revenue level was $11,499,530, with expenditures of $11,905,186.
The unassigned fund balance for MLPS is $624,636, and at WAPS, $1,895,743. At the same time, the fund balance for MLPS is $733,971 and $2,287,462 at WAPS.
The SOD (Statutory Operating Debt) calculation is at 15.24% and at WAPS, 22.86%.
The MLPS District is functioning under an Operating Referendum of $1,702 per student that is set to expire in 2017. (The board will be seeking to renew the current plan.) The district does not have an Building Referendum Levy.
The Operating Referendum at WAPS is at a $1,335 per student level, with 2021 as the last year of that levy. The levy was renewed in fall 2013. The district does have a $10,950,188 Building Referendum Levy that runs through 2023.
Current Mountain Lake, Windom collaboration
The superintendents were eager to put on display the areas in which the districts already cooperate and share. Both are on the Flexible Learning Year (FLY) schedule and through the Southwest/West Central Service Cooperative, are connected in staff development and special education. When involved in an Integration Collaborative, the schools worked together on 6th grade field trips, summer college credit and staff development.
Students in grades 7-12 at each school have the opportunity to participate in paired athletic programs – boys Eagle hockey, girls Eagle hockey, Cobra gymnastics and Cobra wrestling. Taking a deeper look at the number of participants from each school at the varsity level, MLPS has one young woman skating on the girls Eagle hockey team and one performing on the Cobra gymnastics team; but the largest number of athletes are the 10 competing in Cobra wrestling. For WAPS, nine boys are Eagle hockey team members, while eight girls participate in Eagle hockey. There are nine gymnasts representing WAPS, as well as nine wrestlers.
Additional venues of sharing between the two districts are completed through the Cottonwood County Collaborative. Through this cooperative effort, a connection is made in the areas of –
* Social workers in the schools.
* Safe driving seminars for students.
* Thinking for a Change class for students.
* Childhood development training (ACE) for teachers.
* Special speakers (abuse prevention seminars).
* Coat for Kids.
Through the Fund 4, the Community Education Directors for each district collaborate to provide –
* Community trips (i. e. plays, sporting events, etc.).
* Field trips (i. e. Fairmont Swimming Pool).
* Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) Pre-K Academy Summer Picnic.
* Youth Football League for grades 3-6. (Thirty-to-forty participants come from the MLPS District, while 50-60 players are from the WAPS District.
Superintendent Strom and Superintendent Wormstadt see growth in the Community Services area of collaboration in the years ahead.
What the future holds for both districts
Both school administrators admit that each district is having to spend revenue to repair and/or update facilities at an unsustainable amount; noting the need to transfer monies from the general fund to the capital fund to complete maintenance; which means that funds for possible student opportunities are having to be used for other items, most notably on the school buildings.
For MLPS, that means choosing from a list of four architects (yet to be interviewed) to help find solutions to building deficiencies. A building bond referendum was defeated in December 2013.
WAPS recently hired I+S Engineering Group to conduct a facilities assessment of its current buildings (Highland, Winfair, Middle/High School). Those assessments show a need for $10,010,750 in repairs and maintenance (including HVAC) over the course of the next 10 years. School board members have prioritized these items by cost and created a 10-year time frame to complete the repairs and maintenance. The next step for the board is to determine how to finance it the projects.
The school administrators lamented the daily “weighing” over issues that they do – fix the bathrooms, repair electrical or boilers or purchase a new English curriculum or technology – which is more urgently needed? This “triage” is due in large part because the State of Minnesota has no formula with which school districts can care for their current facilities.
In addition to facility upkeep, increased costs are found in a new area – required security updates and training.
The MLPS District has within it a parochial school (Mountain Lake Christian) and two private schools (Elmendorf Colony and Neuhof Colony), along with home-schools students. Superintendent Strom noted that MLPS has reached out to cooperate with private and home-school students, and, in the past four years, has moved from a -20 open enrollment to +7 for this school year.
Superintendent Strom and Superintendent Wormstadt point to a small “enrollment boom” over the past few years. In fact, for this school year, the 442 forecasted MLPS K-12 student enrollment has become an actual 498 – or an increase of 56 unexpected students.
Superintendent Wormstadt reiterated that business and manufacturing growth along Highway #60 has led to an increased student census, along with a slight uptick in births.
One challenging area both districts recognize is in teacher recruitment and retention; teacher shortages and fewer applicants in all areas. Superintendent Strom spelled out that, “This is one of the most challenging years to find an elementary teacher. There are shortages in not just general education, but in agriculture, sciences, business/computer, mathematics. In fact, school districts are trying to outbid each other to hire teaching specialists.”
Superintendent Wormstadt added, “Teaching graduates are finding something else to do that provides them with better salaries in order to pay off high student loan debts while those educated in another state find the number of hurdles to obtain Minnesota licensure are too many and too costly; and, in addition, others already in the profession are leaving it for more higher salaries in other sectors, or due to burn out.”
Inserted Superintendent Strom, “We (Strom and Superintendent Wormstadt) talk a lot about how we can help each other get and keep teachers.”
Open for dialogue
Each superintendent attested that, in the end, “Our #1 focus is on what we are doing for students.”
At the close, members of both boards agreed on the importance of keeping the lines of communication open. The consensus was that, in areas where sharing and cooperation already occurs – it works well. Members agreed that the #1 question to ask and answer is: “In what other areas can this be done as well?”
WAPS Board Treasurer Rick Fredericksen inserted into the discussion that “The district have many similarities; both challenges as well as good things. We need to continue to talk and share common experiences. Sharing is better for everybody.”
MLPS Board Clerk Julie Brugman summed the evening meeting up this way, “There should be nothing ‘scary’ about talking with your neighbor.”
