Levy

(By the way - Susan is speaking now about this now.)

If the board decides not to have a levy, then the reduction would be higher. This is a risk to do during an election year.

State indicators from Pawlenty are that they will NOT reduce state funding to school districts due to the crisis that all school districts are facing.

Pawlenty will NOT be recommending any additional revenue either.

(It would be really helpful to have the handout that Susan is reading from!)

If we went out for a levy, we would not have to reduce next year. They want to maintain around a 5% buffer.

There are choices. [First time we have heard about the ability to make other choices -- which is great!]

The sheet she is reading from basically runs several scenarios.

This same story is being played out in districts across the states.

It was a hard conversation with the govenor. What are the solutions? He (Pawlenty) believes it will need to be a very serious crisis before people will come to the table.

He believes the school districts are a business that overran their costs, but with greater constraints due to long term contracts, unions, etc...

The responsibility has unfortunately shifted to the local tax payers.

In conclusion, I want to say that we do have options.

We are getting more funding for special education -- again it will be on the web site tomorrow.