Superintendent Michael Cary laid out many of the financial details of the general framework that resulted from informal discussions that included Cary, Cloquet Board Chair Ted Lammi, Carlton Superintendent John Engstrom and Carlton Board Chair Julianne Emerson.
“We are trying to make sure that we are being fair to our taxpayers and looking at an agreement that we feel could be beneficial to our programs,” Cary said. “If we didn’t feel like the agreement was fair to our taxpayers or helps us improve programming, we wouldn’t be going down this road. We really think that it can be of benefit to us, the trick is whether or not we have the structure for us to benefit appropriately.”
The state of Minnesota is the primary revenue source for all school districts in the state, Cary said. There are a number of revenue streams dedicated to providing education on a per student basis. In addition, the school district receives an amount per student from the state for long term facilities maintenance.
In the agreement, the money Carlton receives from the state would flow to Cloquet for each high school student who enrolls in Cloquet, according to Cary.
RELATED: Carlton, Cloquet to continue tuition agreement talks
In addition, Carlton would pay Cloquet an extra $800 per student “above and beyond” the educational and maintenance aid streams from the state.
“That money would be under the direction of the board, but our initial thought as the administration would be that money could be set aside in an account that we accumulate,” Cary said. “When we in the future need to go forward with any kind of a renovation or building project, then we would have that pot of money to offset the cost to our local taxpayers.”
School board member Gary Huard asked if Cloquet would be required to hire Carlton teachers displaced by high school students attending Cloquet, but Cary said that was not part of the agreement.
“We have no obligation in terms of providing anything for their instructors,” Cary said.
Cary stressed that while there has been progress, the districts are “certainly far from a finished deal at this point.”
Board members all supported moving forward with discussions, but they all wanted to be sure Cloquet had the infrastructure to support the additional high school students.
“I just want to be clear, I am in favor of doing anything we can to help neighboring district students,” board member Ken Scarbrough said. “I want to make sure that we’re able to handle them facility-wise.”
The Cloquet School Board will have a special committee of the whole meeting at 8 a.m. Friday, Aug. 20, at Garfield School to discuss the tuition agreement with Carlton and other issues. The meeting is open to the public, but there will not be an opportunity for public comment.
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Cloquet School Board votes to move forward with tuition agreement talks - Pine Journal
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