Understanding Our Challenges
Protecting the fiscal stability of the school district
Thief River Falls Public Schools have a long legacy of preparing students for success. Small class sizes, talented teachers and a dynamic curriculum, give our students the environment they need to put their curiosity and talent to work. But today, our district faces several financial challenges that threaten to disrupt these important aspects of our schools for the next generation of students.
How are Thief River Falls Schools funded?
In Minnesota’s schools, funding for operating expenses - everything from classroom materials and overhead to staff salaries - comes primarily from the state government, with smaller contributions from federal and local sources.
The amount of funding the district receives is directly tied to the number of enrolled students. For each “pupil unit” enrolled, the district receives a set dollar amount.
Our district is especially dependent on state funding compared to others in Minnesota because we do not have a local operating levy in place to support education. Across Minnesota, voters in 70% of school districts have approved operating levies to avoid budget cuts, keep class sizes down and maintain student programming.
Challenge #1: Funding for education has not kept pace with inflation
The funding formula that Minnesota uses to determine per-pupil spending has not kept pace with inflation for over 15 years. This challenge has made long-term investments in education a constant balancing act.
In 2023 state lawmakers voted to increase the per-pupil formula by 4% in 2023 and 2% in 2024. Even with these one-time increases, districts statewide are receiving relatively less funding than they were 15 years ago.
Challenge #2: Thief River Falls School District has cut its budget by nearly $2.7 million in the last six years
Due to inadequate funding from the state, the district has cut operational costs in five of the last six years to avoid deficit spending. Since 2017, our district has cut spending by $2.7 million, more than 10% of the annual budget.
Annual budget cuts
2022-23: $1.2 million
2021-22: $550,000
2020-21: $136,000
2019-20: $0
2018-19: $216,000
2017-18: $550,000
Total: Nearly $2.7 million cut from a budget of $24 million
Challenge #3: The district faces a $3.3 million deficit by the 2026-2027 school year.
Thief River Falls School District is projected to face a deficit of approximately $2.4 million in two years and $3.3 million by the 2026-2027 school year, despite budget cuts and new state funding for education.
The state’s per-pupil funding increases of 4% in 2023 and 2% in 2024 will offer temporary financial support to our district, but are not enough to provide long-term budget stability. New state spending mandates for education further limit how districts like ours can put this funding to use.
While the district regularly seeks to maintain an emergency fund balance of 10-25% to avoid budget deficits, the fund has been reduced by approximately $900,000 over the last three years to make up for inadequate state funding and tackle unexpected impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on student learning.
What happens if the district continues to cut its operating budget?
While cuts are an efficient way to balance the budget, they are always detrimental to students. Cuts often include letting go of staff members and eliminating select student services to protect basic programming.
Continuing to rely on cuts to keep the budget balanced will severely limit the district’s ability to provide adequate staff support for students and invest in new, innovative resources to prepare them for success after graduation. Ultimately, we can’t cut our way to student success.
How can I help?
District leaders are committed to finding new solutions that address our budget challenges with the help of input from community members, like you.