By Joanna Miller, Staff Writer

The Prior Lake-Savage Area School Board set aside extra time Monday evening to work on developing the clearest way to explain the referendum to voters.

The board members agreed that the first question for the referendum is straightforward, with money allocated for reinstating the existing tax levy and to add funding to staff the opening of Redtail Ridge Elementary in Savage. Opening Redtail Ridge would reduce elementary class sizes district-wide.

“These are two things we have to do to stay a viable district,” Superintendent Sue Ann Gruver said.

The complicated part? Wording an explanation of the second question on the ballot, which will call for funds to hire more staff members in the classrooms.

Gruver and the board came back to the table Monday to make sure they word the second question correctly, so that the public is informed.

“We’ve been listening to this community throughout the whole process, this last year. What’s coming back in these two questions is only half of what we asked last year. It’s bare bones,” Gruver said.

The board members intend for the funds to help with crowded classrooms; however, members said that could come in the form of classroom teachers or paraprofessionals in the classroom.

So, classroom sizes may be in the 20s for grades K-4, but paraprofessionals could cut down the teacher-student ratio in those classrooms, for example.

Board members feared that by using the term “support staff,” voters may think they were talking about office help, rather than teachers and classroom assistants.

Gruver said to keep class sizes down, the principals at the middle level have made tough decisions, such as adding study hall periods to keep the course sizes down.

“I’d like to see less students in study hall and more students learning,” Gruver said.

Gruver said an approved referendum could mean vibrant, strong and stable schools in the future.

At Prior Lake High School, Gruver said cutbacks have meant larger class sizes, but it has also meant reduced course options.

Board Member Chris Lind asked if the additional funds could go toward middle and high school staff, as Redtail Ridge dollars would address some elementary school needs.

Board Member Dee Dee Francis asked that the board “keep it simple.”

“They say the No. 1 priority is class sizes,” Francis said.

Board Member Eric Pratt said the board may need to be more specific.

“What does class size mean? What does that mean to you?” Pratt asked.

Class size could mean support positions, including paraprofessionals, or even counselors, to have the “biggest impact on student learning possible,” Board Member Diane Ziemann said.

“We must have a clear message,” she said.

Board Chairwoman Lee Shimek said that each year the administrators review what the needs are, the difference with the referendum is that there would be funding available to address the needs this time.

Board Vice Chairman Tom Anderson said that by being too specific, the board could also limit options to place the funds where they’re needed.

“We don’t know where the pressure points are going to be,” Anderson said. “I don’t know how much more specific we can be other than ‘reduce class size.’”

Gruver suggested rather than one grade level, perhaps the funds could be earmarked for core subjects, such as reading and math.

“Back to the basics? The three R’s?” Anderson asked.

The board decided to continue conversations on how to label the second-question funds at future meetings.

“This question isn’t going to give us a surplus,” Gruver said.

 Joanna Miller can be reached at (952) 345-6375 or jmiller@swpub.com.