On Nov. 5, Blue Earth Area (BEA) School District residents will decide whether to approve a $66.845 million bond to build a preK-6th grade elementary school and make needed upgrades at the high school.
Proponents and opponents of the referendum are making their final pitches to persuade voters.
In the past several months, district officials have held public informational meetings, mailed out brochures, posted on the school’s website information explaining why the project is needed, its impact on property owners as well as a link to a virtual meeting.
However, not everyone is in full support of the multi-million dollar project.
An ad airing on KBEW by the Concerned Citizens Group encourages residents to vote “no” with the announcer saying,
“Shiny new facilities don’t guarantee quality learning. We need programs that actually improve our kids’ futures, not just new walls. Let’s focus on what matters, effective teaching, resources and support for our students to give the next generation a chance. A new building does not mean a better education.”
Another ad says passage of the bond issue carries a real cost of higher taxes for families already struggling and would not be the best use of money.
“We need transparency and accountability, not more debt for a school district with declining enrollment over the last decade,” the announcer says.
On weekly radio programs, Superintendent Mandy Fletcher has answered questions about the bond issue and says state lawmakers passed legislation in 2019 that helps ease the burden on taxpayers.
“The state of Minnesota will be paying approximately 50 percent of the project,” she says.
Need for a new grade school was determined because portions of the current facility are nearing 100 years old and the water lines and plumbing fixtures are failing.
And, the current classrooms do not have the flexibility and electrical capacity adequate for today’s teaching methods.
Fletcher says square footage of the new school will be much less than the current facility of 185,000 square feet .
“The new school building would be about 65,000 to 70,000 square feet less and would be built super efficient with operating costs, and would save us approximately $130,000 annually,” she says.
Survey results of BEA District residents conducted in September 2023, says Fletcher, found that a majority of the respondents supported construction of a new elementary school.
The project earmarks more than $10 million for upgrades at the high school to replace the HVAV system, remodeling to create space for seventh-graders and renovating the main entrance to improve security and better monitoring of visitors.
Fletcher says up to $2 million is included in the 25-year bond to demolish the current elementary school.
The district has prepared a tax impact calculator so property owners can determine what their annual and monthly tax impact would be.
Owner of a house with an estimated market value $100,000 would result in an annual tax increase of $84, while taxes of a house valued at $200,000 increases nearly $232.
Agricultural homestead property with estimated market value of $7,500 an acre with have an increase of $1.52 an acre and $3.04 an acre for non-homestead.
BEA voters will get a chance of be the third school district in the past four years to approve a ballot issue to build a new school.
In 2020, residents of Maple River School District passed a $63.3 million ballot issue by 10 votes, 1036 to 1026, to construct a 185,000 square foot facility for pre-school-12th grade students.
In a special election last May, Martin County West School District voters approved a $64.7 million referendum by 65 votes for a K-12th grade building. The new school will be 27,055 square feet less than the current 205,771 square feet of four buildings.
I can’t afford higher taxes for anything at this point!