Rugby Public Schools Superintendent Mike McNeff discussed the proposed excess mill levy in an interview with The Pierce County Tribune, which will be go before voters in a special election on Oct. 14.

McNeff said since the board moved forward with the proposed mill levy, the district has been gearing up to engage with and educate the public on the reasoning behind the proposed excess mill levy, which he is said is largely being brought on by declining enrollment, spikes in the district’s health insurance costs and exacerbated by recent legislation that instituted budget caps.

“When you have a decline in enrollment, which is going on across the state when you look at it, we’re all struggling. The legislature will say we got 2.5%, and that gets gobbled up quickly when you’re losing kids,” McNeff said. “The messaging is hard to get people to understand, everything is so inflated, and we have 18% health insurance increases and we planned for 10%. The per-pupil isn’t catching up to help school districts.”

McNeff said Rugby and other districts were likely to hit their caps quickly in this new normal, with their only options being cutting programs or making the case for an excess mill levy to overcome the gap. McNeff said a survey is going to be pushed to property owners to get feedback from them, as the district has been slowly reducing its staff over the last four to five years and keeping expense increases as low as possible.

“I think it’s critical that we find some way to share with the community that wasn’t our first choice. We don’t want to cut anything, so we’re going right to an excess mill levy. We’ve tried everything we can to not do this,” McNeff said. “I think our community supports what we do a lot through our referendum’s we’ve had, but I get it, people don’t want higher taxes.”

McNeff acknowledged the district could spend down its interim fund, which he said carries about $1.2 million, but said kicking the can down the road won’t cure the issues leading to positions like the art staff position being left unfilled.

“We can’t keep cutting staff or we’re not going to have the things we really like in Rugby. It would’ve been really nice to hire an art teacher. It’s those agonizing decisions. I don’t want that paraeducator to be cut, we need that. But you want that part time school nurse, because you need that too. It’s challenging,” McNeff said.

McNeff said Rugby likely won’t be the only district pursuing an excess mill levy, which he hoped could serve as data for legislators as they evaluate the outcome of the budget increase caps. One proposal McNeff identified that wasn’t incorporated by the legislature was a three-year calculation for each district’s average daily membership, which he said softens the fall for districts with declining enrollment.

“Should districts have to go to an excess mill levy when they’re funding the basic necessities? But when you see districts seeking to find different methods simply to exist, I think that’s data for them to look at,” McNeff said.

McNeff said the Rugby School District has demonstrated its students are very prepared upon exiting the system either by entering the workforce or excelling in higher education, which was a testament to the comprehensive variety and quality of its programs and student organizations such as FFA, DECA, FCCLA.

“We want to continue to do that, and I think we’re a big enough school that we have options that some smaller schools don’t have. We’ve got programs that are pretty important to people. There are bells and whistles that you will lose over time, and then what?” McNeff said. “What do we believe in and what do we want in this community? There’s only so many Rugbys in the world. We’re not attached to an urban area. We have our own hospital, we have our own things. We’re pretty self sufficient.”

McNeff said in addition to the surveys, dates for public meetings will be announced about six weeks out from the vote on Oct. 14.

“We’ve done a lot of work in that area. We wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t a major need. Our budget is getting closer to being finished, we’re not negotiating this year, so we’re pretty clear on where we’re going to end up,” McNeff said. “We hope the community is supportive of that, and if they aren’t, we’ve got some really challenging decisions heading our way.”