Dear Members of the Rochester Public Schools Community,
Survey results of metropolitan school districts in Minnesota released today show that Rochester Public Schools (RPS) is not alone in facing a major budget deficit for the 2024-2025 school year. RPS has cut more than $20 million from the budget over the past two years to put the District on a path to financial stability. Our deficit, shown in this survey, would also be much greater if the Mayo Clinic had not generously gifted the District $10 million dollars. RPS will continue to make the hard decisions necessary to reach financial stability in the years ahead. However, these survey results also show that due to inflation and other factors, more support is needed from both the State of Minnesota and the community of Rochester to provide all Rochester students with the caliber of education they deserve and that Rochester's future workforce requires. Toward that end, RPS will continue to advocate for increased funding at the legislature, and I will recommend that the Rochester School Board place a referendum on the ballot this fall to increase local support for our schools.
To read a summary of the survey results and to compare the projected deficit for Rochester Public Schools with projected deficits in other school districts, visit the Association of Metropolitan School Districts (AMSD) website or use the link listed below:
Association of Metropolitan School Districts (AMSD) Budget Survey: https://www.amsd.org/2024/03/04/2024budgetsurvey/
Kent Pekel, Ed.D., Superintendent