Volunteers Push for 'Yes' Vote on West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan School Referendum

Advocates of the levy referendum are running at full steam to gather support for the Nov. 8 vote.

The referendum will ask voters to renew an existing 10-year levy that is expiring next year and increase that levy by $1.8 million per year. The original levy was for $1.7 million per year; if passed, the new levy will raise a total of $3.5 million per year year. (Tax Impact Chart)

If voters don’t pass the question, the district says it will face $3.2 million in cuts for the 2012-2013 school year.

The district put forth a similar question last year to voters; that failed 8,332-9,535. Every levy increase request in Dakota County failed last year. One renewal passed in the Lakeville district.

To ward off another failed request, a volunteer parent group is following up independently to say “Vote Yes” at every opportunity.

“Really we have the collective will to target everybody,” said Stephanie Levine, one of the group leaders. “So there’s not really a group that we aren’t targeting. We’re feeling as though this is going to be a close election and we have to be as inclusive as possible.”

She said the group is made up of volunteers that represent many demographics in the district, ranging from retirees to parents of early learners.

The volunteers, who refer to themselves as “197 Levy for Learning” or the “Vote Yes Committee,” have made their presence known at school and community events throughout the district. “We’ll talk to any group that invites us,” said Levine. Unlike the district, the volunteers are not restricted from encouraging voters to support the request.

Interim Superintendent Tom Nelson has also been making the rounds to community groups to provide more information about the financial realities the district faces. His presentation is also posted on YouTube.

While there hasn’t been any organized effort to oppose the levy, a few voices spoke against the district at a public meeting Oct. 24.

Mendota Heights resident John Fischer said he believes in the public school system, but called the request “outrageous” and said the district has not yet demonstrated the need for what he sees as a 106 percent increase.  He also said he was “tired of being threatened” with what could happen if the levy doesn’t pass.

Another resident at the meeting said that while he always supports referendums, “sometimes you make it hard.” He said he opposed putting both a renewal and an increase into one question.

Nelson is reluctant to predict which cuts would be made by the board if the referendum failed, but many of the have been cited as possibilities to consider again.

Those proposals are all too real for some families of who vocally opposed a proposal to close the school.

Andrea Berg is one of those parents, and now serves on the volunteer levy committee.

“I really feel like if this fails that our school will close,” said Berg. 

She said the biggest obstacle the referendum faces is “a lack of understanding for what this means for our schools and what dire circumstances the district faces,” particularly from residents without children in the district.

“The parents and the folks who have any age group (in the schools)—I think they understand it. They’ve been through the budget cycle last year with all the cuts and changes they were proposing and realize things could be a lot worse next year without the levy.”

Levine said it was the parents, not the district, that urged the council to put one question rather than two on the ballot.

“The reason why there’s one question is because that’s what the district needs to balance their budget,” said Levine. “Ask for what you need, don’t ask for halfway. Because I’ll tell you, the first one will pass and the second one will fail.”

For the district, the additional funding will essentially buy time until efforts like the can research and recommend more long-lasting structural changes in the district to reduce costs further.

Despite what’s on the line, volunteers say they are optimistic about the vote—in particular, because the referendum and the school board election are the only items on the ballot.

“I’m actually encouraged,” said Berg.  “I feel like there are so many more people who want it to pass and are motivated to get out to the polls to make sure it passes. How many people are motivated to get out to the polls to vote against this specifically?”