Yes. The school district has already taken action to reduce the budget by $5.1 million in administration and central services level effective this school year. The draft recommendation for the second phase of reductions includes an additional $8.75 million in central services reductions. If approved as presented, 53% of the reductions would come from administration and central services and 47% from school sites.

The current proposal reduces $13.75 million in administration and central services or about 35% of total expenditures in this area. Further reductions will reduce even further the support services to operate schools and student achievement. Anoka-Hennepin is amongst the bottom tier of metro area school districts in the percentage of expenditures allocated to administration despite being the largest enrollment district in the state. 

Long-Term Facilities Management (LTFM) is a program authorized by the State of Minnesota and managed by District finance and buildings and grounds departments with the goal of protecting the public's investment in facilities. The School Board authorized approximately $14 million for projects this year in areas such as HVAC, roofs, windows and other facility updates. LTFM also allows the district to authorize funds to district staff who are responsible for managing the program. Use of LTFM as proposed keeps additional staffing reductions away from schools and classrooms. 

The State of Minnesota provided funding and a requirement to provide breakfast and lunch for all students in public schools at no cost. It is not possible to use this funding for other district programs or needs. 

A convergence of factors have combined to create this budget challenge including stable and slightly growing enrollment, elimination of federal pandemic relief funds, higher than budgeted employee contract settlements, inflationary increases for operations and transportation services, and additional requirements without funding.

Anoka-Hennepin is not alone in being in this situation. A total of 41 metro area districts are considering over  $300 million in cumulative reductions for next school year. 

Even though the majority of reductions and realignments are being considered in central services and administration, reaching the $26 million budget reduction target is difficult without impacting school sites. This proposal eliminates 35% of the total central services expenditures, or about $13.75 million. Further reduction leads to reductions that impact family life such as transportation, walking distance, and student support services. 

The Anoka-Hennepin financial planning model aims to maintain an amount of money equal to 10% of general fund expenditures in reserve ($55 million)  to provide stability during times of funding uncertainty. Should the amount exceed the goal, those funds may be allocated as one-time strategic investments by the school board. This option would remove $5 million in approved strategic investments for two years to total the $10 million account.  This reduction includes a 50 FTE reduction in math and reading intervention teachers, instructional coaches that support teachers and school administration primarily at the middle school and high school level. The reduction is mostly achieved by reducing the amount of allocation for existing positions instead of eliminating positions altogether. Additional detail is not available at this time because the district has not notified employees involved in this reduction how this would specifically impact their position. For context, strategic investments are one-time use, so these services would have been eliminated after two-years without an ongoing source of funding. 

No. There is not enough school board member support to pursue a schedule change at either the middle school or high school level. 

If approved as presented the middle school program would remain in a seven period day format. Changes in state guidelines will require students to register for an additional period of physical education and science in seventh grade. The schedule will not change due to school board action but will need to be adjusted to meet state requirements. 

The reduction for Intervention staff at the high school level are not funded through one-time strategic investments and are not part of the general fund.  

The district has consistently been communicating the timeline and process for community feedback for over 3 months, including a series of community meetings from Sept. 25 to Oct. 9. In addition to the five community meetings, the district will send all families an invitation to  learn and comment about the proposals by email. The school board is committed to reviewing community feedback prior to a final decision. 

Anoka-Hennepin sent an email with meeting times, dates and locations to all families in the district, posted information on the home page of the district website and shared this meeting information at public meetings. This format is similar to how the district shares public engagement opportunities for other processes such as school boundary adjustments or voter approved referendums.

The school board will consider a review and comment on the draft recommendation plan from members of the public through a series of public open house meetings, school board meetings and online forms. Please be sure to share your perspectives and ideas for the district using this process.   

View item 7.A. Phase II Budget Reductions from the regular School Board meeting scheduled Nov. 25, 2024. Supplemental information is available in Appendix i (presentation slides), Appendix J (financial summary).

View the video presentation on the School District YouTube channel.

View item 3.A. FY24 Financial Results, Updated FY25, FY26, FY27 Budgets and Budget Reduction and Reallocation Discussion materials from the School Board work session held Nov. 23, 2024.
Supplemental information is available in Appendix A (FY24 General Fund Financial Results), Appendix B (Projected budget summary for FY24, FY25, FY26, FY27). 

View item 4.B. Phase 2 Budget Reduction and Reallocations Update from the School Board work session held Nov. 4, 2024. Supplemental information is available in Appendix H (Nov. 4 financial summary), Appendix I (Oct. 2024 financial summary), Appendix J (Oct. 28 presentation slides), Appendix K (feedback summary report). 

View item 7.D. Phase II Budget Reductions from the Regular School Board meeting held Oct. 28, 2024.
Supplemental information is available in Appendix N (presentation slides), Appendix N1 (feedback report summary) and Appendix N2 (financial summary). 

View the video presentation on the School District YouTube channel.

View item 8.B. Phase 2 Budget Reductions and Reallocations Preliminary Recommendation from the Regular School Board meeting held Sept. 23, 2024.

Supplemental information is available in Appendix N (presentation slides) and Appendix O (September 2024 financial summary).

View the video presentation on the School District YouTube channel.

(11/26/2024) Board action endorsed a budget reduction and reallocation plan Nov. 25, completing a process that unfolded over the past several months and allows planning for the 2025-26 school year to remain on schedule. Read the full story.

(09/23/2024) The process to determine a solution to address a $21 million budget reduction gap facing Anoka-Hennepin Schools took an important step forward with a draft recommendations presented at the Monday, Sept. 23 Anoka-Hennepin School Board Meeting. Read the full story.

(02/05/2024) Anoka-Hennepin Schools is facing budget challenges similar to school districts across the state that have created a budget imbalance that must be addressed. Action is being taken now in order to lower the impact on classrooms with a phased, two-year plan to remedy an preliminary $30 million adjustment prior to the 2025-26 school year. Read the full story.