The current budget challenge was first forecasted and presented to the School Board in 2017.
Since that time, District leaders, School Board members, parents and community members
have advocated for new legislation to address these funding challenges by asking legislators to
either increase the general formula provided to all school districts or to allow school districts to
raise funds locally. This advocacy has included holding local meetings, visits to the State
Capitol, emails and letters to legislators, and many public presentations at the Capitol. The
District and all supporters who would like to help will continue to take these steps until this issue
is addressed.

While our local operating referendum is voter-approved funding, it has been capped by the State of Minnesota. Minnetonka Schools reached the State maximum in 2019. Until legislation increases this cap, we are unable to ask for additional funding from voters.

If you are interested in helping, the District recommends that you join Minnetonka's Community Action for Student Education (CASE) committee.

CASE advocates at the Minnesota Legislature for full school funding. The committee's goal is to encourage legislators to reinvest in public education at the state level and to understand how possible changes in current law can impact school funding. Learn more about CASE & get involved.

If you have other ideas on how to help with the District's financial situation, please email communications@minnetonkaschools.org.

The School Board used funds that are designated by statute to be used only for capital needs to construct the VANTAGE/MOMENTUM Building. The funds cannot be used to pay salaries and benefits in the General Operating Fund. The District had been renting approximately 9,200 square feet at the Baker Road building on I-494 to house the VANTAGE program for approximately $400,000 per year and a total of approximately $4,000,000 expended over 10 years. With the lease expiring and the VANTAGE and MOMENUM programs needing additional space, the School Board opted to use the annual $400,000 capital payment to make the payment on a bond that helped pay for the 37,400-square foot VANTAGE/MOMENTUM Building, which has a 100-year useful life and will always be owned by the District. The School Board did not request a property tax increase from the voters of the District for this facility, paying for it instead out existing revenue streams designated by statute for capital needs.

Technology funding comes from a voter-approved dedicated annual levy that can only be spent on technology and staff who support technology equipment, staff who support software used for instruction and for operations such as budgeting and payroll, curriculum and classroom equipment and building security. The voters of the District have approved this dedicated levy for several decades, with the most recent approval on November 7, 2023 for an additional 10 years. The funds and associated expenditures are kept in a dedicated fund that is separate from the General Operating Fund.

The School Board has been spending down the General Operating Fund Balance over the last several years. Several million dollars of it were needed to keep Minnetonka Public Schools operating during the two COVID-19 years. The General Operating Fund is intended to function primarily as an emergency reserve fund for unknown conditions, of which COVID-19 is a primary example, and the dollars can be spent only one time. The General Operating Fund was utilized last year and is being used this year to pay for the contract settlement with the District’s largest union, which was settled after 16 months of negotiations and without any of the strike action turmoil that has been seen recently in other districts across the state. However, using one-time money to pay for ongoing expenditures can only be done for a short period of time, at which point in time it is necessary to return to having ongoing General Operating Fund expenditures equal the General Operating Fund revenues that are received for the year.

Capital project items have finite lives and must eventually be replaced. They are done so with funds dedicated for capital uses, or sometimes through a combination of donations and funds dedicated for capital uses. In the case of the Einer Anderson scoreboard, the Touchdown Club raised the money to pay for an upgraded and expanded scoreboard. In the case of the Einer Anderson track, the track surface was approaching 25 years of exposure to Minnesota weather, and it was replaced with funds designated for long-term facilities maintenance. In the case of the MHS West Gym scoreboard, it had panels that were burning out, and at 15 years old the replacement parts were not available, so it was replaced with a scoreboard of the same size with current technology, using funds designated for capital equipment. All of these funding sources were not available to be used to pay for salaries and benefits in the General Operating Fund.

Teachers make up a large majority of our staffing, and, in turn, a large majority of our budget. All positions other than teachers make up approximately 21% of General Operating Fund expenditures. Teachers make up 67% of our General Operating Fund expenditures. it would be impossible to make significant reductions without making cuts in this area. The School Board focused on increasing teacher and paraprofessional positions as the District grew 45% in students from 2007-2024. With the additional revenues, it was possible to increase teaching staff by 68% during that same time, to the benefit of all students. With the additional revenues, it was possible to increase paraprofessional staff by 86% during that same time, to the benefit of all students. With limited student growth opportunities and no current ability to ask voters if they would  be willing to raise the Operating Referendum funds of the District, budget reductions must be made, and because our expenditures in the General Operating Fund are 88% personnel salaries and benefits, and teachers are the great majority of those expenditures, it will be necessary to include teaching positions in the budget reductions.