The Lakeland Union High School Board will draw down its reserve fund by hundreds of thousands of dollars this coming school year to meet the operational costs of the two new charter schools for youth on the autism spectrum.
A significant portion of that overall cost will come back to the district in form of reimbursements from state aid for special education students, private sources, Medicaid and other sources, according to discussion Tuesday at a special school board meeting.
The proposed budget for the charters states all of the school districts will use their fund balance to cover their share of the operating costs, resulting in no increase to the property tax levy. In addition to the high school district, other partners in the venture are Arbor Vitae-Woodruff, Minocqua-Hazelhurst-Lake Tomahawk, Lac du Flambeau, and North Lakeland – all elementary schools.
LUHS Director of Finance Greg Kopp and two board members met afterwards to further refine the budget figures. Kopp declined to release the numbers until he makes a formal presentation to the school board Aug. 27.
Unique in the state, LUHS and the four elementary districts are sponsoring the charter schools that have accepted 15 students in the 9-12th grades charter and 5 students in the 7-9th grades charter. Both charters will open this fall in the former Nicolet College satellite building on the LUHS campus. LUHS is acting as the fiscal agent for both charters; as such, the operational costs have to be included in its 2018-19 budget, with state aid factored in once it’s received, Kopp explained.
Tuesday saw a lively discussion of the finances, with Gregg Walker of the charters’ governance board (oversight body of the charters) disputing some of Kopp’s figures. The two along with board member Barry Seidel had met the week prior to hash out the proposed budget. Kopp’s budget sheet showed the 2018-19 total operating costs of the two charter schools at $1,148,380, which represents a cost per student of $57,400. As a comparison, educating the same students in the “traditional” special education program at the high school would have cost just under $450,000.
Known as the Lakeland Star Academy (high school) and Star School (middle school), the charters are modeled after the Lionsgate Academy in Minnesota that has received accolades for its success in educating students on the autism spectrum. That school, and now the charters at Lakeland, rely on much more individualized learning tailored to the students’ needs. Hense, the higher costs. And as such, the two charters will see nearly 17 full time equivalent (FTE) staff, versus 7.55 FTE that would have been needed in the traditional model, Kopp pointed out. Walker re-emphasized that the goal of the charters is to have those students employable once they leave the high school. Not only willk the self-worth of the students be enhanced, society at large will see lower costs because they won’t need as many support services, if at all, once they are employed and living independently. He also said future cost of the charters could drop as some students may need fewer services as they advance through the grades.
Walker said the governance board has raised about $800,000 in donations, which will be used to support the two charter schools. According to Kopp’s budget summary, “$170,000 of projected pre-opening costs and operating costs of $11,500 per student will be funded from donations.” Asked about the status of the reserve fund (used to bridge expenses until real estate taxes and state and federal aid comes in), Kopp later said the account stood at $7.4 million at the end of June, but should rebound to just short of $8 million when August tax payments are received from the towns. “We can’t do it indefinitely,” Kopp said of tapping the reserve fund for that purpose.
Walker and other charter school supporters are lobbying the governor and legislature to increase state aid for charter schools that serve autism students.
