BROOKINGS – The Brookings School Board has a big night ahead with its Monday board meeting.
The main topic of the night will be discussion of and possible action on an opt out, deciding the amount and how to move forward with approving one.
The issue of pursuing an opt out of the state’s property tax freeze has been brought up in past school board meetings. School board member Steve Bayer has been the most vocal in his support of an opt out.
He reasoned that with the increased facility space the district is pursuing comes increased related costs to running those spaces, from utilities to staffing.
With existing deficits in the budget responsible for staffing and lackluster state funding, Bayer had argued that it was futile to discuss projects of this scope without also talking about how to achieve financial stability.
The main tasks for the school board to decide will be to put a dollar amount to the opt out, and then discussing the means of approving it.
It is within the school board’s authority to approve an opt out themselves, but they could decide to put the issue before the public, having them vote on it in the April 10 ballot.
That’s how it was done with the last opt out, approved in 2001. That opt out continues to generate $750,000 per year for the school district through increased property taxes. And before that, in March 2000, the public voted down by a 2:1 margin an opt out that would have raised up to $500,000 per year.
No less important an item, the attendance boundaries for the school district’s three elementary schools is on the agenda. According to the school board agenda, Brookings School District Superintendent Klint Willert will recommend the school board table any changes to the attendance boundaries.
Additionally, the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school calendars will be up for approval, including a plan of action regarding school start times.
The Monday board meeting starts with a 5 p.m. work session for an executive session followed by a 6 p.m. regular meeting. The 6 p.m. session is open to the public and will be held at Dakota Prairie Elementary.
