State Aid Shift is 'Delaying the Problem' for Eagan Schools

School administrators for District 196 will meet Friday to learn more about the state budget’s impact on local education.

“I would say it’s certainly going to have an impact on schools,” said Tony Taschner, communications specialist for Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan public school district.

The state government opened for business Thursday, a day after Gov. Mark Dayton signed into law budget bills that will affect everything from schools to health care.

Taschner said Thursday that a delay in school funding is “just further... delaying the problem.” The state budget includes a provision that will give school districts only 60 percent of their state aid during the year for which it's allotted, and will give them the other 40 percent once the year ends and final enrollment is tallied. The ratio had been 70/30.

“There’s a cost to having to borrow more money,” he said, and “that’s disappointing.”

As for how that will impact certain programs or the schools’ bottom line, that’s what school leaders will learn Friday. Taschner said they will meet with the Association of Metropolitan School Districts.

The District 196 school board will on Monday evening meet for a school board retreat, where among topics they’ll talk about district-wide goals and its financial future, according to a notice released Thursday.

The meeting will take place at 5:45 p.m. at the school district office, 3455 153rd Street West in Rosemount.