The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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June 23, 2009

Your View — Schools shouldn’t rely on anonymous donors

Jenna Capuzzi, Jenna Hamre, Mankato

With the projected budget cuts for 2010 and 2011, the K-12 schools won’t have cuts to their budgets, but they won’t get the money they need.

According to the proposed unallotments and administrative actions in the next two years, the school districts will receive 73 percent of the (fiscal year) 2010 entitlement in (fiscal year) 2010 and the remaining 27 percent in (fiscal year) 2011.

This temporary reduction and deferral mimics the school aid payment shift that has been used historically to create one-time savings. While this may sound like a good fix right now, schools will have to borrow money to pay for everything they will need. After schools borrow this money, they will need to pay interest on it. The interest they will have to pay will cause them to have to cut programs like the arts, and music classes. Because of private donors some schools will temporarily be able to keep their art and music programs like Winona did around 2003. Thanks to an anonymous donor, Winona has been able to keep their arts and music programs. If a donor would not have come forward Winona would be much like Nashwauk-Keewatin Schools. According to the article “State forcing schools to borrow money” in The Free Press on Monday, the Nashwauk-Keewatin Schools does not have any art or music classes, due to funding.

If every school in the state of Minnesota is going to have to rely on anonymous donors to keep their programs going there will be more and more schools in the state of Minnesota like the Nashwauk-Keewatin Schools.

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