District 742

The St. Cloud Area School District slashed over $3 million from next year's budget. The cuts made during Wednesday night's meeting will result in the elimination of 38 full-time licensed staff positions. Fourteen of those will be teachers who plan to retire and will not be replaced.

You have one final chance to give your input, before the St. Cloud Area School Board makes their final cuts for the next school year. A public hearing is being held tonight (Monday) at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Apollo High School.

St. Cloud Tech High School is locked down as St. Cloud Police search the nearby neighborhood. Police have not indicated why they are searching the area, but school district officials confirm it is not associated with students or staff inside the school.

Prepackaged processed foods have been replaced with more whole grains and fruits on the breakfast menu in the District 742 schools. Now, instead of serving pancakes and muffins, kids get food such as cold cereal and oatmeal.

The number of kids receiving free or reduced lunch in the St. Cloud Area school district continues to rise. However, the increasing numbers have slowed. District officials say 49% of the kids in the district are now in the free and reduced lunch program -- that's up from 48% last school year.

St. Cloud police say an elementary school was briefly locked down after a man with a permit to carry a gun mistakenly walked into the school with the weapon.The incident happened at Lincoln Elementary at 2:50 p.m. Tuesday as students were being dismissed.

You have another chance tonight (Tuesday) to give your input on possible cuts to the St. Cloud Area School District's budget. A public meeting and review of the district's budget process and finances will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Apollo High School Learning Resource Center.

There's a bill making it's way through the State Legislature that would freeze the salaries of all public school district employees for the next two years. St. Cloud Area School District Superintendent Bruce Watkins says he's not supportive of that piece of the bill.

The St. Cloud Area School District is taking suggestions on what programs and services they could possibly cut. You can give your input in one of two ways, by going online or by stopping by your child's school, and filling out a form.

About 10% of the student population in the St. Cloud Area School District speaks very little English -- or no English at all. Natalie Prasch is the English Learner Coordinator for the district. She says there are about 1,000 kids enrolled in her program. She says they range in age from five all the way up to 21 years old.