Election 2017: District 191 Funding Requests

DAKOTA COUNTY, MN — Faced with an operating levy set to expire, the District 191 Board of Education unanimously approved asking voters to consider two school funding requests on the ballot for Election Day, Nov. 7.

District 191 includes residents in Burnsville, Eagan, and Savage. The suburban public school district servers approximately 9,000 students.

The requests are:

• Question 1: Renew an existing operating levy, which is due to expire. If not renewed, the district would lose more than $7 million in annual funding that currently supports day-to-day school and district operating expenses, including retaining quality staff, transportation costs, utilities, classroom supplies and other supports to student learning.
• Question 2: Increase the operating levy to provide $3.9 million in additional annual resources to minimize future budget cuts, help maintain class sizes and protect student support and educational programs. Q2 is contingent on Q1; Q2 can only pass if Q1 is approved.

The board says the district is in need of additional revenue. If voters approve both questions, the net tax impact on the average district home (value $250,000) will be $10 per month.

“Our goal is to ensure each student is future ready, so that all doors are open to them to realize their dreams,” said Superintendent Cindy Amoroso in a statement. “Educating and supporting our students requires resources; resources that are in increasingly short supply due to inadequate state funding, increasing educational costs and inflation.”

According to Lisa Rider, District 191 Executive Director of Business Services, several factors contributed to the district’s need for increased revenue to support educational programs, including:

• State funding has not kept up with inflation nor increasing educational costs over the past 15 years. A report from the Minnesota Department of Education indicates that if state aid had merely kept up with inflation during that time, the district would be receiving nearly $600 per student more in revenue.
• State and federal funding does not cover required special education services, forcing the district to use general operating funds to pay for those expenses.
• The district has not asked for an operating levy increase since 2007.

Helpful links

For more information on the referendum, visit the district website.

Moved recently? In Minnesota you, can register to vote online.

Voters can learn more about these school funding requests by calling the referendum information line: (952) 707-2019 or emailing referendum@isd191.org.

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