With a special election to call and a budget deficit to approve, Austin Public School board members will be busy Monday.

Board members are expected to decide on a potential site for a new grades 5-6 school that would ease a projected increasing student enrollment over the next five years. They are expected to make a resolution to call a special election this November for a bond referendum of $28.9 million.

The district’s student population is expected to increase by 400 students five years from now, and between 800-1,000 students by 2020.

The most likely site is the Fellowship United Methodist Church property off of Seventh Street SE, adjacent to the south side of Ellis Middle School. District officials estimate building a school there, along with the renovations to Woodson Kindergarten Center, would total $28.9 million. While teachers have cautioned board members about building on Ellis land, saying there would be scheduling and emergency evacuation issues, district officials say building a new school on the church property would adequately separate the two schools while eliminating the costs of putting in utilities and building athletic fields.

Mark Stotts, the district’s director of finance and operations, recommended the church site, as the site would be the most cost effective in Austin. He’s spoken with individual board members and hasn’t heard any negative feedback on the church site.

“They realize the church site makes sense both from a financial standpoint and a logistical standpoint,” Stotts said.

Aaron Keenan, board chairman, said he personally supported the church site after a special meeting last Monday on a potential new site.

District officials must submit a proposal to the Minnesota Department of Education for a review and comment on the plan. Once that’s done, board members can officially declare a bond referendum this November, as long as they receive the MDE review by mid-August.

The board will also approve next year’s budget, which isn’t exactly good news. The district is expected to run on a deficit next year, according to Stotts. District officials will have to make due with about a $1.9 million deficit, which is due in part to increasing costs, flat per pupil funding from the state and the lack of recent one-time grants that normally offset inflation costs in previous years.

The district carried a balanced budget this year, with about $1.9 in general funding reserves. That means the general fund grew by about $600,000 to $800,000, according to Stotts earlier this year. The district’s budget is constantly fluctuating due to many expenditures and revenue coming in and out of various funds, making it sometimes difficult to pinpoint district funds to the exact dollar.

Last year’s one-time $1 million grant from the federal Education Jobs Fund Bill helped as well, balancing out a projected $1.5 million deficit. That won’t be the case this year, and district officials say they are prepared for the budget crunch next fall.

“That was a planned deficit,” Stotts said. “We’ve been talking about this for a long time.”