Despite halting planning on new capital projects, St. Paul Public Schools plans to borrow $67 million this year to pay for ongoing construction at several schools.
The school board already has signed off on $15 million in bonds covered by the annual property tax levy. In the coming months, they’ll be asked to consider an additional $52 million for several projects.
That’s actually far less debt than the district has been taking on of late.
Under plans initiated by former superintendent Valeria Silva, the school district since 2016 has been spending $112 million a year on building maintenance and capital projects, up from around $30 million before then. The idea was to improve the look and function of the district’s aging schools, not necessarily to increase capacity.
But those projects have cost far more than anticipated.
Following a Pioneer Press report detailing how much the estimates have grown, Superintendent Joe Gothard in 2019 put a stop to pre-design work on any new projects, further delaying improvements that already had been pushed back because of a lack of funds.
However, several projects, including renovations at American Indian Magnet and Frost Lake, were approved last year because preparations already were well underway when other planning was stopped. The $67 million in borrowing this year will help pay for work at those schools as well as projects near completion, such as renovations at Humboldt and Como Park high schools.
Gothard’s administration was expected to release a new five-year construction plan last spring but postponed it because of the coronavirus pandemic. That plan finally is set to go before the school board in February, with a vote expected in March.
School district spokesman Kevin Burns did not say Monday whether the district intends to go back to borrowing $112 million in future years.
Much has changed since the last five-year plan was approved, in October 2018.
The trend in declining district enrollment has worsened.
Gothard’s strategic plan has his team rethinking how the district is using its building space.
And the forced transition to distance learning during the coronavirus pandemic has some students thinking about learning from home full-time. St. Paul is one of dozens of school districts planning to start its own online school in the fall.
GROWING DEBT
Controller Arleen Schilling detailed the borrowing plans Monday morning during a meeting of the Joint Property Tax Advisory Committee (JPTAC), whose members represent the school district, City of St. Paul and Ramsey County.
She called the reduced borrowing this year “good news for taxpayers.”
JPTAC members expressed concern in September that the school district was borrowing too much.
Collective debt for the local governments passed the group’s target of $2,500 per resident last year and was on track to exceed $3,000 by 2023 at the pace the school district was borrowing.
“It feels like something we should address as a group,” said Alexandra Kotze, the county’s chief financial officer, said last fall.
During Monday’s meeting, JPTAC spend little time on the issue but members said they ought to use their biennial publication on collective debt as a tool to guide future planning.