by Tad Johnson
Thisweek Newspapers-Dakota County Tribune
November 6, 2003
Prospects for passing two levy authority questions in the Lakeville Area School District didn’t look good before the final polling place was tallied Tuesday night.
Only one polling place reported more “yes” than “no” votes on both questions before election judges at Christina Huddleston Elementary School returned their numbers about 10 p.m.
The 238- and 191-yes-vote margins reported in that final polling place boosted the approval of both questions narrowly by 306 and 133 votes, respectively, or 51.8 and 50.7 percent.
“There were some very tense moments,” said Superintendent Gary Amoroso.
“We weren’t celebrating until all of the numbers were up,” said Ronda Willsher, who coordinated communication efforts for Citizens Vote Yes. “We’re thrilled. We know these elections are always close.”
Voters who cast ballots at Christina Huddleston and Cherry View Elementary School in the district’s northeast corner carried the levy questions to passage. Cherry View voters approved both questions by 355- and 322-vote margins.
Votes were very close at three other polling places and were failed mostly by voters in the western part of the district at Trinity Evangelical Free Church and Elko City Hall.
Amoroso said those areas where voters supported both levy questions have registered similar votes in the past.
“People were very happy,” he said of the reaction of those at the district office when the votes were reported. “We were very thankful the community chose to support both questions. … The bottom line is this will be a benefit to our students.”
“I was very delighted that the vote turned out as it did,” said Board Chairwoman Holly Dahl. “It shows that every vote counts and it was critical and vital to our schools and our district.”
Prior to the election, the district knew it would have to get as much information out to voters as possible.
They learned from an August electronic forum that the more information they gave to participants about school funding and the district’s budget, the more they placed their support for levy funds.
Still that statistic District 194 sample found 15 percent of residents were undecided when asked if they would support an increase of $390 per pupil unit. No votes registered in the two forums about the same question were 46 and 64 percent, respectively.
Tuesday’s questions asked for $375 per pupil unit.
Prior to the election, Amoroso said he was receiving about one or two questions a day over e-mail regarding the levy vote. He said the personal response was a valuable communication tool.
Only about a dozen residents attended two levy information forums, so district officials had little indication of support.
Dahl credited the work of the Citizen Vote Yes Committee for educating voters about the issues.
“The message was clear and concise,” Dahl said. “They did a good job of incorporating what parents with and without children in school asked.”
Willsher said the group did more than it had ever done before and in more visible ways.
When asked what message she felt resonated with the “yes” voters, Willsher said “by using the tag line ëIt is up to us,’ showed the state is not there for us. To do it right, it was truly up to us.”
Authority granted
Question one will generate approximately $2.9 million annually for seven years to fund operation costs of the second high school to open in fall 2005 and reconfigure grade levels to relieve building overcrowding. Question two will generate about $1.45 million annually for four years to maintain programs.
“This will help us maintain most of what we have,” Willsher said. “We still have to be very prudent. … We are going to have to manage our resources well.”
The board made about $1.18 million in adjustments to the budget for fiscal year 2003. The board decided against making deeper cuts, which likely would have led to transportation and current teaching staff cuts.
As the effects of state funding shifts are experienced, Amoroso said the district will need to do a good job of monitoring expenses.
“We still need to be trimming and very judicious with our money,” Dahl said.
If the levy questions would have failed, she said the cuts would have been severe.
The levy funds represent about 5.5 percent of the 2003 cost to educate a student in Lakeville schools.
The state funding formula ($4,601 per student) accounts for about 78 percent of current costs. But that piece of the pie will likely drop as the funding formula remains the same for two years.
To maintain programs as the district continues to grow, levy funds will likely be used to address issues created by growth.
For example, at the beginning of this year, when kindergarten enrollment exceeded projections, the board had no funding allocated for reserve teachers. The cut of $200,000 for reserve teachers meant that the district had to find about $47,000 to fund half-time aide positions for two kindergarten sections and create another section at Crystal Lake Elementary School.
As part of this year’s budget plan, the district increased its class size guidelines to 24 for kindergarten and first grade, 26 for second and third grades, and 29 for fourth through sixth grades in order to accommodate growth and keep the number of sections at a minimum.
Overcrowding is also affecting buildings like Lakeville High School, which this year and next year will convert common areas, a teacher’s center, a supply closet and other areas to create 11 new classrooms.
Dahl said as the district is growing so quickly it is greatly impacting its finances. The district projects it will add 561 students in the next two years.
“We need to educate our students for the future,” Dahl said. “We have to do the best we can for every student and teach them all that they need to know to be successful today.”
Voting results
About 35 percent of registered voters in the district cast ballots Tuesday. That is comparable to turnout in the April 2002 bond referendum (43 percent) and November 2001 (33 percent). The results of the Nov. 4 levy votes in the Lakeville Area School District are as follows:
Question 1 | Question 2
Polling place
JFK: Yes 731 – No 735 | Yes 720 – No 744
Lake Marion: Yes 626 – No 626 | Yes 610 – No 640
Cherry View: Yes 1104 – No 749 | Yes 1088 – No 766
Christina Huddleston: Yes 878 – No 640 | Yes 855 – No 664
Trinity Evangelical: Yes 724 – No 866 | Yes 705 – No 883
Elko City Hall: Yes 258 – No 396 | Yes 252 – No 401
New Market City Hall: Yes 18 – No 21 | Yes 20 – No 19
Total: Yes 4339 – No 4033 | Yes 4250 – No 4117
Source: Lakeville Area School District
Tad Johnson 