Rdale History: How Did We Get Here?

Too Many Buildings

Our district footprint still reflects past enrollment numbers; too many of our buildings aren’t operating at full capacity, which keeps our operating costs too high. 

When operating costs are high, we have fewer dollars to use for staff and student support.

Deferred Building Repairs

Many of our buildings date from the post-war boom of the 1950s and 60s, and they reflect their age. Rdale has $140M in maintenance needs, and that’s just replacing broken things, not renovating to modernize or increase efficiency.

Implementation Error

The district planned to reduce spending by $17.4 million for the 2024-25 school year. Only $3.2 million of those reductions occurred, primarily because of a misapplication of compensatory revenue during the budgeting and staffing process. This created a $14.2 million gap in planned reductions. 

Robbinsdale Area Schools hasn't had a voter-approved building bond since the early 1980s. While we're not interested in "keeping up with the Joneses," this slide shows that our neighboring districts have been using this financing strategy as a way to keep their buildings up-to-date and ready for the future. 

Educational Funding

Educational funding can be confusing.  Most of the money that we receive is designated, that is, it comes with a specific function attached to it. The only fund source that doesn't is the operating fund. This fund is also the money we use to pay our staff and fund our programs. 

• Operating funds (Unassigned Fund): This is the money that can pay for staff salaries, school supplies, building utilities, and transportation costs. When this bucket is overspent, it can trigger Statutory Operating Debt.

This "bucket" can be spent in any of the other categories if needed, but the other buckets cannot. So, even if we have money in another bucket, we can't pay our staff with that money.

When we lower our operational expenses by using our buildings more efficiently, we can put more money from this bucket toward supporting our students and our staff.

• Long Term Facilities Maintenance: LTFM dollars fund repairs for buildings; you cannot add things or renovate with them. For example, I can replace old windows with new windows, but I cannot add more windows.
   
• Capital Projects Levy: These funds come from the voters, and they are renewed every ten years. You might remember voting on this funding in 2024. The money can be spent on cybersecurity,  tech equipment, hardware, and software. 
   
• Building Bond funds: This is voter-approved money that can be used for building additions, renovations, and the construction of new facilities.
   
• Capital funds: Any money we make by selling our buildings or land would become capital funds. This money can only be spent on capital purchases like building repair, restoration, furniture, or new construction. (This is how Pilgrim Lane Elementary was renovated in 2017.)