Brainerd district plans cuts after levy fails
Superintendent Chip Rankin proposes closing two elementary schools and cutting 38 staff positions following a $3 million shortfall.
By Talia Bennett ·
Brainerd Public Schools intends to close two elementary schools and one alternative school, along with eliminating 38 staff positions, after local voters rejected a proposed tax increase on Tuesday. Superintendent Chip Rankin presented these options to the school board, stating the district faces a financial turning point that requires immediate structural changes.
The rejected measure was a $5 million annual levy designed to run for 10 years. District leaders calculated that the tax would have added $11 to the monthly bill for the average household. With the funding denied, the district now faces a deficit exceeding $3 million.
Rankin attributed the budget strain to a sustained decline in student enrollment. He noted that the district currently has 450 seniors but only 330 kindergartners. This imbalance has resulted in a net loss of approximately 640 students per year. Each departing student represents a loss of roughly $800 in per-pupil funding.
Parent Leaf Plested expressed concern about the potential impact of the cuts on the community. "I’m not sure what leads a school district to have such issues, but yeah, I mean I think that would be a hard, a bitter pill to swallow," Plested said. Other residents cited the current economic climate as a primary reason for voting against the tax increase.
Roz Haapajoki, a parent in the district, said families are struggling with high costs for groceries and gas. She indicated that residents are reluctant to accept additional tax burdens during a period of financial tightness. Rankin agreed that economic pressures played a major role in the referendum failure.
The superintendent also cited unfunded state mandates as a source of tension. He stated that the state covers only about 20% of the costs associated with the Read Act, leaving the district to pay for teacher training and other requirements. Rankin further highlighted that 213 students attend out-of-district online charter schools, which generate no revenue for Brainerd. He noted that 113 of those students eventually returned to the district with no earned credits.
Rankin said only 27% of school referendums across Minnesota passed on Tuesday. He plans to seek approval in April for a separate capital projects levy, which would cost each household $8 per month. The school board will hold another work session in December to determine the final path forward.
