The Albert Lea School District got some more good news about finances last week.

Saturday, February 09, 2002

The Albert Lea School District got some more good news about finances last week. Teachers in the district voted to allow $200,000 in staff development dollars to be transferred to the general fund.

They voted to release the staff development funds on Jan. 30. The transfer only applies to the 2002-03 school year.

It was the second time teachers had voted on the issue. In their previous vote, on Dec. 14, 2001, they narrowly turned down a request from the district to release the funds. According to state law, a district’s teachers have to give their permission before staff development funds can be transferred to another part of a school’s budget.

After a series of activity and program cuts were approved at the school board’s Dec. 17, 2001, meeting, teachers initiated a discussion with district administrators and board members about holding another vote, but teachers wanted to know what the released funds would be used for. The board was unwilling to provide details. Ken Petersen, board chairman, said at the time that he was unwilling to make any promises about bringing programs back because of possible additional cuts to state funding as a result of the state’s own budget problems.

Teachers decided to go ahead with the vote anyway, with the result that the district can now move the $200,000 into the general fund.

&uot;We would like to thank our staff for helping us out with these funds,&uot; said Petersen. He added that continuing education for teachers is a priority for the district, and will continue to be so.

According to David Prescott, superintendent, no decisions have been made about how to use the money.

Possible cuts at the state level are still a factor, and the district plans on simply holding the money for now, until officials here get a better sense of what legislators and the governor are going to do.

&uot;There’s a lot of concern about what’s happening in St. Paul with the Legislature,&uot; said Prescott.

&uot;We’ll have to wait and see,&uot; he added.

They probably will take a look at ways to use those funds in March.