To the Editor:

We are concerned about the projections being used to justify closing the Southland Elementary School. There is a 5.8 percent ($351,396) increase in expenditures in year one that carries through all five years of the projection resulting in over $1.7 million in added expenses. This would put the district in financial insolvency.

Southland School Board member Wayne Kiefer and the Southland administration originally explained that the 5.8 percent is due to an agreement with the Southern Minnesota Education Consortium (SMEC). However, SMEC administration revealed that if the 5.8 percent expenditure increase was indeed due to SMEC, Southland would receive reimbursement. When questioned about the reimbursement revenue, the Southland administration has now changed the explanation for the 5.8 percent increase, but cannot give any specific details. Perhaps the increase is not really valid.

This phantom increase in expenditures may be there to set the stage for the next building referendum. The increase justifies closing the elementary school which will then make a building referendum the only option to fix the problems created by putting all students in one building.

The 2017 building referendum was defeated by such a landslide, that the district has resorted to misrepresentation and disrupting student learning as a means to shift as many “no” votes to “yes” votes.

Joe Landherr

Andy Felten

Al Mandt