MOORHEAD (KFGO/KVRR) — The Moorhead Area Public School District is telling voters additional funding is needed now more than ever.
“Over the last twenty years, since about 2005, the big portion of how we collect our revenue has not kept up with inflation,” said Brandon Lunak, Moorhead Area Public Schools superintendent.
Lunak said there is about a $1,300 gap per student between revenue that is being collected and what would be if the school’s formula kept up with inflation.
“When you look at it from that perspective, that would equate to about $9 million,” said Lunak.
Last year, a vote on a $4.3 million capital project levy failed. This year, there are two questions on the ballot. One proposes an annual operating levy of $4.37 million for day-to-day operations. The second proposes an additional $1.5 million for equipment, transportation, and other needed funding.
“The big thing that I want our community to understand is that those additional dollars that we’re asking the voters to support here in November would go to our programs and the district operating bottom line,” said Lunak.
The district this year made $4 million in budget cuts, Lunak says, if the vote does not pass, they will need to make an additional $5 million in cuts in staffing, security, transportation, and more.
Breckenridge is also asking voters to approve a capital project levy for ten years to raise approximately $6 million.
Superintendent Kristie Sullivan says, “This referendum is about creating safe, modern learning spaces that support every student’s growth. The result is a shared vision for a single, unified PreK–12 campus that will strengthen learning opportunities.”
Voters in both districts go to the polls on Nov. 4.
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