By Mark Fischenich
WELLS — The United South Central School Board asked area property owners to approve a referendum to replace the district’s crumbling 76-year-old school and was turned down three times in three years.
The school district’s representative in the state House, Rep. Tony Cornish, asked lawmakers twice to cover half of the $25 million cost of a new K-12 school in Wells and was refused twice.
Hoping the sixth time, and the federal government, will be the charm, USC is now hoping a solution to their building problem will come from the federal economic stimulus bill to be signed today by President Barack Obama.
With the cost of the school project now expected to be at least $28 million, School Board Chairwoman Christie Wetzel would love to see $20 million or more in federal stimulus funding come to the district. But even $14 million would eliminate half the burden on taxpayers, possibly making it realistic that they’d see a bond referendum as affordable.
“It’s so hard right now to predict with the economy,” Wetzel said. “... I’d have to say we’d need half the money.”
Congressman Tim Walz toured the school Monday, agreed that the need for a new building was undeniable, but couldn’t offer anything close to a guarantee the school will receive that sort of a contribution from the stimulus bill. Walz, a former teacher at Mankato West High School, played a role, however, in guaranteeing that the district will at least have a shot at some money.
The House bill contained $20 billion for school construction projects. The Senate version had none. Walz helped line up a total of 46 House Democrats who sent a letter to congressional leaders saying school funding needed to be restored to the compromise bill, and $6 billion was put in the final $787 billion bill.
What portion of that money will end up in Minnesota remains unknown, but officials in the administration of Gov. Tim Pawlenty will likely develop the strategy for distributing the state’s share to districts around the state.
It’s possible all or most of the money will be scattered widely through grants for energy and energy efficiency projects for schools.
“We think the bulk of it will probably be used to retrofit windows, solar panels maybe,” Walz said.
But after touring the school in Wells, he thinks it would be an excellent use of the federal funds to get a new school built. Not only is it needed, it would create a substantial number of construction jobs and provide lasting economic development benefits by improving the educational opportunities of students there.
“We think this is exactly the type of project that fits the bill,” Walz said.
Cornish, R-Good Thunder, agreed.
“I can’t think of a better place to spend these dollars than education — a core function of government,” Cornish said.
Cornish has taken the tour a couple of time before, but it was the first in Wells for Walz.
He saw the leaking boiler, the 40-year-old single-pane windows that bleed heat out of the building, the cracks in the walls, the cramped classrooms, the jam-packed special education room, the tiny gymnasium, the below-grade lunchroom that has no fire exit directly to the outdoors.
Parts of the school look like displays from a museum. The home economics room has red and yellow countertops straight from the 1950s. The PA system — large wooden speakers — is literally an antique. Shades in some rooms date to 1953.
“I graduated from a school very similar to this,” Walz said. “But now it’s closed, and there’s a reason — it outlived its usefulness.”
There’s also a big reason that voters have rejected the idea of a new school three times. The largely rural district has very limited commercial/industrial property, which puts most of the burden of bond referendums on farmers.
The 2005 referendum would have cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $307 a year if it had passed, while the owner of a typical 600-acre farm would have seen taxes rise by $4,600.
Wetzel hopes state officials will recognize how that property tax disparity makes it virtually impossible to get a referendum passed in a district like USC.
“It’s time the state steps up and helps these small rural districts,” she said.
One silver lining in the multiple failures at the ballot box and the Legislature is that elected officials are starting to notice. Rep. Mindy Greiling, chairwoman of the Minnesota House K-12 Finance Committee, has already weighed in, according to Wetzel.
“She actually sent me a handwritten note saying we were the first district she thought of when she heard about this federal stimulus bill and that she’ll do everything she could to help,” Wetzel said.
