Posted 6/22/01 A first step in addressing overcrowding: North Branch Schools close the door on student open enrollment By Jason Sileo Students who reside in surrounding districts and who may wish to attend school in the North Branch district on an open enrollment agreement will be denied that opportunity this school year and quite possibly beyond. The North Branch School Board voted to close the door on open enrollment opportunities as a first step toward limiting the impact of an increasingly overcrowded district at the boardís meeting June 14. District Administrator Dr. Robert Stepaniak said the action was the most readily available first option for addressing the space crisis the schools are anticipating in the coming year. Students already attending the North Branch district under an open enrollment agreement will be, in effect, grandfathered into the system and will not be denied their continued enrollment. Likewise, Stepaniak explained, siblings of students already accepted in the district would not be denied access. Open enrollment had already acted as a minor relief pressure valve for the district, Stepaniak explained, because for every student coming into the North Branch schools from a neighboring district, two were leaving to attend other schools. Stepaniak referred to the 2:1 ratio and said that equation would be further enhanced, to 2:0, in the school districtís enrollment favor. He indicated the action was little more than a Band-aid on a severed artery when considering the schoolsí space crunch next year and beyond. Open enrollment will thus be closed to general population students, although, by law, ìat riskî students who wish to transfer into North Branch from area districts will have to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the school board. Schools are not generally obligated to close their doors to open enrollment in Minnesota, it was reported ó only schools experiencing the kind of space crisis that North Branch is facing are legally allowed to take such action. The board approved the 2001-2002 budget with some reservation due to the fact that the state Legislature is still at odds over a state budget, and school districts across the state remain in funding limbo at the moment. Randi Johnson, district financial administrator, gave a brief report on the budget, and prefaced it by saying, ìwe have no idea whatís coming out of the Legislature.î The board, Johnson said, would in effect be adopting a budget under the ìexpectation of revisionsî upon conclusion of the stateís budgetary process. Johnson said the district is in ìvery strongî financial shape at the moment, and said the districtís enrollment growth ìis happening at a faster rate than expected.î The district plans to spend in excess of revenue next year ó to deficit spend ñ due to expected shortages in education funding from the state: the district currently maintains a large fund balance which affords North Branch the luxury of doing so. Most districts in the state, facing the same state funding reductions, have had to cut staff or otherwise reduce spending to make ends meet financially for 2001-02. North Branch, with its burgeoning fund balance, will spend normally next year ñ in effect living off its bank account for the year. In fact, Johnson said, North Branch will likely be adding staff to handle the enormous enrollment in the lower grade levels of the district. With regard to the deficit spending plan,ìWe feel that we can weather that for next year,î but probably not two years, Johnson said of the deficit spending plan. ìNothing that weíve seen from the Legislature has been very promising in terms building our fund balance. There are a lot of unknowns at the moment.î Copies of the budget are available at the school district offices for the publicís perusal. The board approved a rate increase for behind-the-wheel driverís education training from $150 to $160 for next year. Driverís education officials had requested the increase be approved due primarily to the rising cost of gas prices at the pumps. ©Post Review