State Education Lawmakers Tour St. Cloud Tech

(KNSI) – The chairs of multiple powerful state education groups were guests at St. Cloud Tech High School Tuesday.

Mary Kunesh heads the Senate Education Finance Committee. She says the last legislative session was successful, with several big initiatives passed. She talked with KNSI exclusively about the goals for 2024.

“Traveling around, we see a lot of schools that have, because they’ve got that strong tax base and a lot of schools that don’t have. And, so, we’re looking a lot at how we can kind of build the equity across the way.”

Senator Aric Putnam was also at the event. He shared that District 742 is Minnesota’s worst-funded school system per capita. Kunesh is a graduate of St. Cloud Cathedral and took some classes in the old Tech High School, now city hall. She says the new campus is incredible.

St. Cloud Area Schools Superintendent Laurie Putnam had one request for the lawmakers to look into. She asked about a lease levy fix. Kunesh says she still has some learning to do on the subject, but it is on her radar. She explains the basics of the problem.

“They need more space. If we want to have smaller class sizes, they have to be able to spread out. If there are unique communities that need schools, but we don’t want to build a whole other school, how can we use another building and reoccupy it.”

Dr. Laurie Putnam told the lawmakers that 742 is struggling to find space for its preschool classes. Right now, it is capped on how many buildings it can lease space in to solve the problem. Kunesh says other communities have raised the same issue.

Also at the event was Senate Education Policy Chair Steve Cwodzinski. They were given a student-led tour of Tech High School and also answered questions from an 11th grade American History class. The group will be in Bemidji, Duluth, Hibbing, and the White Earth reservation before the week is over.

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