Local parents, educators to lobby for increased school funding

When Century Junior High PTO President JoAnna Webb heard about the upcoming Forest Lake Area School District budget cuts, she decided that she was going to take action to try and make a change. Webb organized a community meeting that was held April 9. School board members Luke Odegaard and Rob Rapheal were on hand to answer questions.
“What I learned from the meeting is that a lot of the money problems come from the legislative level,” she said. “The surplus money that is being given to the schools doesn’t add up to much when it gets down to the local level.”
Webb and others from the meeting decided to see if they could schedule an appointment at the capital to let their concerns be known. A call to the office of State Representative Bob Dettmer was met with a positive welcome and the group was able to secure two meetings. A group of area educators met with Dettmer April 15 at 4 p.m. and a group of concerned citizens is scheduled to meet with him April 17 at noon.
“We really just want to let someone know that not only is this lack of funding unfair, the amount that our schools receive is not enough to keep things operating at a level that will best serve the students and the staff,” Webb said.
Anyone interested in joining Webb on the Friday trip to the capital can email her at jokai317@yahoo.com in order to discuss car pool options.