The Minneapolis School District will be implementing a new budget model next spring called “Weighted Student Funding” (WSF).  As part of WSF, the District is considering (among other things) whether to shift from allocating school budgets for teacher salaries from average salaries to actual salaries.  If you are interested, the overview of this topic from the school board’s May meeting begins on page 17 if you click on the link below.  On page 22, they provide a comparison using Lucy Lane and Lake Harriet as examples of what would occur if they switched from "average" allocation to "actual".  The result is that Lake Harriet would need an additional $300,000 in their budget to fund their existing teachers and Lucy Lane would need $700,000 less to fund theirs.

No decisions have been made yet but, if adopted, this could effectively reduce budgets at schools with more experienced teachers even if the school received the same funds as the prior year.  In the example above, Lake Harriet could get exactly the same funds in 2015 as they received in 2014, but they would be $300,000 short of funding their existing teachers.  It could also be a way to force experienced teachers to go to higher priority schools.  Hale is similarly situated to Lake Harriet in that we have lots of experienced teachers and, as a result, actual salaries for Hale teachers are higher than the average for the District.

This is not the only topic under discussion regarding Weighted Student Funding.  A comprehensive summary of the issues the District is considering for the new WSF model is contained in the June 10 link below.  There is an opportunity for public comment on Tuesday, June 10th, from 5:30-6:00 at The Davis Center, 1250 West Broadway - Assembly Room.  Please consider attending.  The School Board meeting will follow from 6-8 and is open to the public. The Board meeting will stream live and can be accessed via the link below.  A WSF presentation is on the agenda.

School Board Presentation on May 27

 School Board Presentation June 10

Live stream for June 10 School Board Meeting 6:00-8:00

Thank you for a wonderful year!

Jana Ott

2013-14 Hale Site Council Parent Co-Chair

(612) 210-9776 Ottjana@yahoo.com

Eddie Blaylark

2014-15 Hale Site Council Parent Co-Chair

(612) 986-4429 eblaylark@aol.com