School retreat to define ISD 544’s future

By Lauren Radomski (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Friday, February 1, 2008

Members of the Fergus Falls school board will meet at a retreat Monday to discuss two major topics: upcoming budget cuts and middle school construction.

Since the district entered statutory operating debt last June, school officials have said major cuts will be needed to restore the district’s financial health. At Monday’s meeting, board members will continue the process of deciding where those cuts will fall.

“You go right down your line items and you look at everything,” said Superintendent Jerry Ness.

The cuts will likely hit several areas, Ness said, but with 85 percent of the budget devoted to staffing, position cuts are likely.

“We’re a people business, so we look at people,” he said.

Ness said he expected the board to announce the cuts by March.

Meanwhile, the school board is also working with district staff to determine where to house sixth, seventh and eighth graders when construction begins on Fergus Falls Middle School later this year.

“We want to empty out that middle school as much as possible,” Ness said. “Like a remodeling project, the best thing you can do is get out of the contractor’s way.”

R.A. Morton Construction Manager Michael Beach is also involved and says the district is just starting to brainstorm alternate sites.

“About a week ago the school district said, hey, if we can accelerate this, we’ll do whatever is necessary,” Beach said. “We’re wrestling with a lot of different possibilities.”

Those possibilities range from sending students across the street to the high school to sending them to other locations across the district, said Principal Dean Monke. Exactly how many students would be moving is still under consideration as well, the kind of uncertainty that comes with this type of project, Monke said.

“That’s kind of the trade off you make when you choose between building new and remodeling,” he said.