Board member Alanna Oswald asked our Administration about the $7.4 million extra for the Duluth Schools that Lt. Gov. Smith told the DNT that the Governor has written into his Education Bill.
The answer in short is that the Governor’s budget is still a moving target yet to be worked out with the Republican majorities in both houses of the legislature. If there is that much in the the Governor’s budget for Duluth (probably over a two year period) it certainly is not meant to cover the Red Plan’s unanticipated costs.
Supt. Gronseth suggested that any increase in the base funding for schools would end up being somewhere between a 1.25% or 1.5% annual increase. That sounds like a lot less than $7.4 million so I don’t think anyone is confident that Lt. Governor Smith’s good news is anything we can count on. If we get what the Lt. Governor suggests that would be fine with me.
