Cloquet signs off on red school budget

Earlier this month, the Cloquet school board approved the budget for the next fiscal year — which officially starts on Monday — showing an anticipated deficit of nearly $331,000 in a $31 million budget, or approximately 1 percent.

Cloquet finance director Candace Nelis said the projected deficit is lower than the $600,000 to $700,000 predicted earlier this spring, after the district made some staffing cuts and the state legislature approved a 2-percent increase to the General Education formula for funding schools.

Should all the expenditures and revenues play out as expected, Nelis said, the d...