A new budgeting model based on priorities, rather than the previous year’s spending, has produced no major changes for St. Paul Public Schools.
District leaders on Tuesday night outlined $4 million in planned new spending for 2020-21, largely driven by the next phase of Superintendent Joe Gothard’s strategic plan, which calls for investments in college and career paths, culturally relevant instruction and school and district culture.
They also laid out $13 million in potential savings, none of which was presented as a discontinuation of programs or commitments that aren’t making an impact.
“We’re not truly deviating from anything in great ways,” Gothard told the school board.
The district in December set out to analyze more than 90 commitments and programs to determine whether they make an impact on student achievement and are worth continuing. The effort was hampered, however, by a lack of data and an inability to evaluate disparate programs on a single scoring system.
Gothard and Chief Financial Officer Marie Schrul said this will be a transition year toward priority-based budgeting. They hope to have the model fully in place in time to prepare the 2021-22 budget.
“It hasn’t been an ideal year but we have learned a lot,” Gothard said, citing the “obvious distractions” of a teacher strike and coronavirus pandemic that forced a move to online instruction. “I think we have a long way to go, as well.”
The budget model means that unlike in previous years, the district is not unveiling a multimillion-dollar deficit it will need to close in time to approve the budget in June.
Instead, they’re presenting a balanced budget built from the ground up. However, the $582 million in projected revenue next year — up just $3 million — is $9 million short of what it would cost to carry over this year’s budget plus inflation.
The $13 million in savings comes largely from a change in the way St. Paul will use categorical federal funding. Officials said they’ll provide details on the savings and spending categories at a future meeting.
Some of the increased spending will go to custodial staffing, lunch accounts, support for middle schools, and a software upgrade for a human resources, finance and payroll system that relied on paper timesheets for non-teachers.
Speaking by videoconference, board members pressed Gothard on how he intended to gather community input on the budget proposal while residents are stuck at home under orders from the governor.
Chief of Staff Cedrick Baker said COVID-19 prevented them from holding additional meetings but they’re working on it.
The budget proposal makes no assumptions about the possible impact of the coronavirus, good or bad. But Schrul said they’re preparing for a shortage in revenue in case a large number of property owners in the city don’t pay their taxes on time next month.
The district also said little about how the teachers contract might affect planned spending. The teachers union ended its three-day strike last month with a contract agreement that commits the district to $4.7 million in unplanned spending on mental health personnel.
Gothard said it’ll require him to “repurpose resources.”
“That is our task right now and in the weeks to come,” he said.