How to move forward to stem the drain on Southland schools’ financial lifeblood drew no solutions Thursday – but there were lots of ideas and concerns aired.

A proposal to close the Rose Creek-based Southland Elementary School, that would save district operating funds, drew over 200 to a public meeting that stretched to almost two hours.

“I don’t know what the solution is,” was a phrase repeated countless times by residents. Many said they did not want to see the closing of the school, but also did not want to see families pull their children from the district because offerings were cut due to budget reductions.

That has already happened, said one parent, who said she moved her five children this year to another district, due to larger class sizes and programming cuts, including art, occurring in Southland.

“We need to draw kids” into the district, she said. “I don’t know what the answer is, but we need to put our kids first.”

The culprit is declining enrollment and the fewer dollars coming into the district’s general fund. State aid is based on student numbers. Southland, like many smaller, rural districts, has steadily lost students in recent years.

Since 2010, said school board president Michelle Nelsen, over 100 students have been lost. Fewer children being born, students lost to open enrollment and students using post secondary enrollment options all take a toll on district finances.

Closing the elementary school would save over $510,000, she said, with reductions in administration and support staff ($308,770), contracted staff ($120,000), transportation ($12,000) and operating costs ($70,000). It was estimated that another $1.6 million in deferred maintenance would be saved. Students would be brought into the Adams building, in classrooms created with space that is part of the current media center.

Nelsen  said that with no changes, the district would be in deficit spending in the next school year, which would compound each year if nothing changed. By 2021-22, the district is projected to be almost $500,000 in decline and would enter statutory operating debt. That would trigger state financial control of the district which could result in cuts made by the state, or dissolution of the district.

Without closing the school, Nelsen said, the school board is faced with three options: do nothing, raise a special operating levy to the  maximum allowed — which would raise only an additional $145,604 for the district —or make more cuts.

Nelson said there had been an adjustment in its financial projections, that previously included a $60,000 balance from its food service fund applied to the general fund. That had inflated the savings estimated in the closing of the elementary school, projected at that time to over $600,000. Food service is a designated fund and cannot be used for other uses. Once refigured, the projection came back in line with the earlier estimate of about $500,000, Nelsen said.

Not everyone believed the figures, with a few accusing Superintendent Jeff Sampson of misrepresenting figures or, as one said, “one trying to pad his resume,” by closing all but one school, according to one resident from Rose Creek. The resident said Elkton — which at one time hosted the district’s middle school — was closed many years ago, and now Rose Creek was being targeted.

Two others questioned the level of reimbursement for special education services through the Southeast Minnesota Education Cooperative, which they said was not reflected in the accounting. One of them was Steve Kasel, a school board member from LeRoy-Ostrander. Although he does not live in the district, he said he was a native of the area.

Another, Brian Felten, a teacher in the Triton School District, added there was no information “on how this (Adams) building will look once those kids arrive” and said the media center once reduced would be too small to serve all the students. He also said the Rose Creek building would be less expensive to upgrade than the Adams site.

He agreed with Kasel, noting “nearly 100 percent” of the special education service cost is reimbursed; however, that information could not be confirmed through SMEC on Friday. Sampson said after the meeting that reimbursements made are only a portion of costs.

Felten characterized Sampson as a superintendent who wanted to pass referendums or build schools and then go on to other districts, citing moves made by other superintendents he had known.

“They left the place in ruins,” he claimed, adding the school board should not close a school “just because you’re getting pressure by someone who is a so-called expert.”

Former middle school instructor Wayne Robertson said he wasn’t “sure how the elementary will fit down here (in Adams),” a question others had as well. Board member Wayne Kiefer finally said, however, that while there was an assumption that all the students would be placed into the media center, that wasn’t true; other areas would be utilized as well. Robertson was also concerned that many of the outdoor amenities would be lost in Rose Creek. He said it would be hard to replace those same areas in Adams, since “we are land locked (in Adams),” he said.

Others asked specific questions; still others thanked the board for its work but asked that it proceed slowly with a decision on closing the school.

A $24.5 million referendum failed in 2017, which would have upgraded the Adams facility, closed the Rose Creek school, and had all students on one site.

Another referendum is anticipated for fall, said Nelsen. Details of a plan have yet to be finalized or approved.

Former board member Pat Graves of Elkton agreed school finance is difficult to understand. She urged the board to wait before acting on a referendum, or closing the school.

“I think we need to talk about it some more,” she said.

Laura Freund, a music instructor with the district, emphasized the good things about the district, and added she did not believe there was any reason for the board “to pull anything over on us.”

She noted the generations of her family who had attended school in the district and the excellent education it afforded. She asked those attending to think about how to best prepare students for the new, global world of technology.

“I think they deserve more and I think they got more in the past,” she said.

She urged people to come together, “in the spirit of our kids and the value of education that has come from our history of doing the right thing.”

The board will meet again on Monday to discuss comments from Thursday’s meeting. No action will be taken on the issue.

The board could take its first action, whatever that might be, at its meeting on April 16, Nelsen said.