Roseville Area Schools has a long and proud history of providing strong educational programs, a talented, caring staff, and a shared vision of excellence.
Reasons we are proud
We recently received the Certificate of Excellence for excellent comprehensive financial reporting, demonstrating our commitment to financial transparency and accountability. Additionally, thanks to good financial management, the district’s credit rating was recently upgraded by Moody’s financial services. Decades of generous and reliable financial support from the community have enabled us to meet the educational needs of our students and their families.
Three-legged stool of revenue
Education funding is a three-legged stool, with the majority of funds coming from the state, followed by local support and then federal funding. For a number of reasons, it is becoming increasingly challenging to maintain our quality programs with the resources provided.
Funding not keeping up with needs
For nearly two decades, state funding has not kept pace with inflation or increasing educational costs. In addition, critical special education programs cost the district nearly $10 million more than it receives each year from the state and federal governments, putting additional pressure on the district’s operating budget. And while the federal COVID-19 relief dollars for schools will help cover pandemic-related costs, they are one-time funds and will not help with our long-term budget sustainability.
Local support will soon expire
We have not asked voters to increase our school district's locally approved operating levy since 2006, in order to live within our means and only go to voters when necessary. As a result, our per-student levy is lower than most comparable school districts. Operating levies provide locally approved funding to support school operations, classroom materials, teachers and other staff.
This local support will expire if not renewed by voters in November 2021, which would result in a loss of $8 million per year, or nearly 8% of our operating budget.
Ongoing budget cuts
To manage increasing expenses amid inadequate revenue, we have cut more than $8 million since 2013. Cuts have negatively affected staffing at all levels, student supports and class sizes. Those cuts will continue without additional revenue.
