Following the announcement that roughly 200 staff members will be cut, the Robbinsdale Area School Board took the first action on addressing a more than $20 million budget shortfall.
At the board’s business meeting Monday, they approved plans to change the start and end of school for all levels in the district and the expansion of its “walk zones” — according to the district, the moves will save them hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Class will now start five minutes earlier for elementary students, middle schools will start five minutes later, and high schoolers will hear their final bell ten minutes sooner.
The district walk zones for elementary and middle schoolers have also been expanded by about a quarter mile.
Superintendent Staloch also shared publicly for the first time following the announcement of the cuts — at one point adding that with staff making up 80% of the district budget, cuts are necessary.
“Over the past few weeks we had to inform values employees, some who have served our district for decades know that their position was being reduced or eliminated, I want to recognize how difficult this is and want to thank staff who have been most impacted by these significant reductions,” Staloch said during the meeting.
During the budget discussion, some board members expressed concerns about how quickly things are moving, while at least one shared support for district leadership.
The impacts of the cuts include more students per teacher; according to the district, many schools will have bigger classes. There could also be seven multi-aged classrooms at the elementary level.
“When we’re looking at increased classrooms, no counselors, lack of an MTSS position, I have really, really grave concerns that we’re not supporting our students the way we’ve agreed to do in terms of mental health support, behavior, all of these add up,” Kim Holmes, who sits on the board, said.
One family with those same concerns feels blindsided by the proposed cuts and worried about their elementary-aged daughter who relies on a nurse who was told they’re being let go.
“It is really, really sad to see that be part of the cuts and feel like our kids aren’t a priority, and knowing how the mistake was made, it’s incredibly insulting to parents,” Emily Wold said.