The Wright Technical Center will increase membership fees for its nine member school districts now that state funding has been resumed. After three years of no new money from the state, Gov. Tim Pawlenty last spring approved a 4 percent increase, which has put more money in the pockets of Minnesota schools. Now the tech center, which doesn’t receive state aid in the same manner school districts do, is asking for its share. It’s a fair request, Annandale schools Supt. Steve Niklaus said. “We had a 4 percent increase and they asked for a corresponding increase. It’s just one of many costs that are going up for us,” he said. The increase will cost Annandale about $4,600 more and will generate approximately $42,000 for the center. Like public schools, the tech center depends on enrollment to help boost its income. Districts pay membership fees based on how many students they send. The tech center has approximately 623 students enrolled this semester. Annandale accounts for about 71 of those students. But unlike public schools, the tech center isn’t losing students. That’s mostly because of the attendance of kids from the east side of the county, namely St. Michael-Albertville and Monticello, school districts that have seen a lot of growth in the past few years. Meanwhile enrollment in the smaller districts like Maple Lake, Delano, Big Lake and Annandale has remained steady. Nonetheless, the tech center is still recovering from the past three years of stagnant state funding, just like the districts. Last year it had to drop the manufacturing technology program because it didn’t have the money to fund it, and the year before that electronics was cut. It didn’t help that two districts, Rockford and Becker, withdrew from the co-op during those years because of the cost. The tech center relies heavily on membership fees to run their programs. “Anything that affects the member districts affects us,” said assistant director Julie Warner. Still, the center has managed to continue to add programs here and there to keep up with industry and to keep students interested. It added information technologies last year and this year the center is offering a cosmetology program. A building on campus was remodeled and set up as a beauty school with 40 stations, Warner said. So far there are two sections of 40 students taking classes there. Two salon owners from the area were hired as instructors. Next year the tech center hopes to add a law enforcement and firefighting program. “We try to keep up with the industry and the needs of students,” Warner said. The tech center in Buffalo has been around for nearly 30 years, providing technical training options for high school students and college credits in areas such as automotive mechanics, construction trades, medical careers and electronics. During its heyday, it was one of 80 such centers throughout the state.