Minn. school districts hope voters in giving mood on Election Day

If you throw a dart at a map of Minnesota, there's a good chance you'll hit an area where people will vote Tuesday on whether to increase funding for their local school district.

Fifty-three districts around the state will ask voters to OK new operating levies or renew current ones that help pay for teacher salaries, utility bills and other basics.

Forty districts are also seeking a total $1.8 billion in 50 separate requests to finance school buildings and other capital projects. In total, including requests made previously in the calendar year, 68 districts are asking for capital project or building bond levies. That's a record number going to voters in a single year, said Greg Abbott, director of communications with the Minnesota School Boards Association.

School levies generally get wide support from Minnesota voters, especially in years where there's no presidential election. Last year voters approved nearly 75 percent of levy requests. In 2013, that number was nearly 90 percent, the highest success rate for school levies in over 30 years.

School officials across the state are hoping voters continue to see the need.

In many cases, voters are being asked to fund new schools or school additions, improve security, and buy new classroom technology. Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan district, the state's fourth largest, wants to invest in all three areas and are asking voters there for $180 million.

The district hopes to spend $50 million over 10 years on technology, including outfitting every fourth- through 12th-grader with an iPad or other mobile learning device.

"Think about how much you use technology for everything you do during the day, during your job, in your personal life — that's the world that we're preparing our students for," said district communications director Tony Taschner. "They need to have access to that tool on a regular basis to be able to be prepared."

Other districts, including Lakeville, Maple Lake and Minnetonka, also have technology related levies. Taschner says that's partly because districts do not receive dedicated funds to maintain or upgrade equipment.

Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan is also asking voters for $35 million to invest in school security upgrades. But the bulk of the request — $90 million — would pay for new class space, including a new elementary school. The district faces a classroom crunch because of all-day kindergarten, which the state Legislature funded in 2013 and which created a need for 26 classrooms, Taschner said.

In northwest Minnesota, the Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Public Schools outside Moorhead have proposed a $31.5 million bond package to add classroom space, including a new $17 million early childhood center to serve preschool, kindergarten and first grades.

"We're trying to make sure we have room for growth in both of our existing buildings, and have room for growth with the new building that will house 360 students in the early childhood center," said Superintendent Bryan Thygeson.

The new space would also give the district flexibility if the state approves funding for universal pre-K, one of Gov. Mark Dayton's priorities last year, he added.

Some school districts have already brought capital project levies to voters earlier this year — 20 out of 33 were approved. With no presidential politics on Tuesday's ballot, it's easier for voters to focus on district needs, said Abbott.

"In the busy presidential years," he said, "where you're just obliterated by 'What's the latest with Donald Trump?' or something like that, it's really hard to get across your message on what the money is for."