The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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What area school districts have on the ballot

DISTRICT: Cleveland
LEVY AMOUNT/LENGTH: Question 1: Renewal of $351 per pupil for 10 years; Question 2: Additional $200 per pupil for 10 years.

DISTRICT: Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop
LEVY AMOUNT/LENGTH: Revoke current $468 per pupil and replace with $870 per pupil for 10 years.

DISTRICT: Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton
LEVY AMOUNT/LENGTH: Revoke current $571 per pupil and replace with $1,485 per pupil for eight years.

DISTRICT: Le Sueur-Henderson
LEVY AMOUNT/LENGTH: Question 1: Additional $350 per pupil for six years; Question 2: Additional $150 per pupil for six years.

DISTRICT: Madelia
LEVY AMOUNT/LENGTH: Increase from $700 per pupil to $1,200 per pupil for 10 years.

DISTRICT: Nicollet
LEVY AMOUNT/LENGTH: Question 1: Renew $800 per pupil for five years; Question 2: Additional $300 per pupil for five years.

DISTRICT: New Ulm
LEVY AMOUNT/LENGTH: Additional $725 per pupil for 10 years.

DISTRICT: Sibley East
LEVY AMOUNT/LENGTH: Renew $600 per pupil for seven years.


DISTRICT: St. Peter
LEVY AMOUNT/LENGTH: Revoke $310 per pupil and replace with $550 per pupil for 10 years.

DISTRICT: Sleepy Eye
LEVY AMOUNT/LENGTH: Question 1: New $750 per pupil for seven years; Question 2: Additional $250 per pupil for seven years.

DISTRICT: Truman
LEVY AMOUNT/LENGTH: Renew $256 per pupil for 10 years.

DISTRICT: Waseca
LEVY AMOUNT/LENGTH: New $700 per pupil for six years.

Note: The Mankato Area Public Schools has a capital levy question on the ballot. It would raise $500,000 a year for technology expenditures.

October 29, 2011

School referendums couched in dire terms

The Free Press

Area superintendents are speaking about their upcoming referendums with a level of gravity rarely heard in recent years.

This year, 133 Minnesota districts have operating levies on the ballot — the highest number in more than a decade. And though every district’s financial status is a bit different, there are perhaps none in this area that have managed recent years without significant cuts. By now, most school leaders say, all remaining budget fat has been trimmed and programs have been slimmed to their leanest-possible levels.

What remains after a decade of mostly flat funding levels and another round of state-mandated aid delays, are the kinds of solutions that radically alter how districts operate.

Statutory operating debt. Building closure. Consolidation. All foreboding terms for school districts.

“Whether the referendum passes or fails,” said Richard Hanson, first-year superintendent of Le Sueur-Henderson Public Schools, “people will drive by the schools and they will look the same.

“But inside it will be very different.”

For the full story, see Sunday's print edition or e-edition

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