Two School Levy Requests to be on November 2013 Election Ballot

After a narrow defeat in the 2012 election, the Osseo School District School Board has decided to ask voters again for approval of an operating and technology levy. 

The Osseo School District School Board approved, by a vote of 5-1 at its May 7 meeting, to place two school funding questions on the November 2013 election ballot.

The questions will ask, according to the Osseo School District website.

• An operating levy that would provide about $9 million per year for 10 years to continue progress in increasing student achievement and to avoid another round of budget cuts of up to $8 million for the 2014-2015 school year.

• A technology levy that would provide $5 million per year for 10 years to purchase, install and maintain software and technology for school instruction.

In the upcoming months, community members will receive “much more detailed information about these request to our community members” through a “comprehensive education campaign,” District 279 Superintendent Kate Maguire told the school board.

If the levy(s) are passed, it would be effective for the 2014-15 school year.  

Without additional funding from the state and/or the passage of the operating levy, District 279 is projecting a possible $8 million budget shortfall for the 2014-15 school year. Final budget adjustments “won’t be completed until the legislature adjourns this spring,” according to Maguire.

“Unfortunately for children over the last decade, schools have lacked stable, predictable funding from the state,” Maguire told the school board during a presentation, stating the impact “of this troubling trend on our schools is dramatic.”  She continued by stating that “unfunded, underfunded mandates continue to play a major role in budget shortfall.”

Before voting, several school board members spoke about the levy requests.

“We heard loud and clear from community members, parents and even students that they wanted another opportunity to go to the polls. I feel that it is an obligation we need to meet. Our reality is that we will be facing budget cuts to some degree regardless of what happens at the state legislature,” District 279 School Board Director Teresa Lunt said.

“To be fair to the students that we have in our district right now, we need to avoid making more cuts to our staff and programs. They deserve the best education that we can give them,” Director 279 School Board member Tammie Epley said.

Osseo School District School Board Chair Dean Henke said he was “fully supporting” the technology levy,  but not able to support the terms of the operating levy.

“I feel that the legislators in St. Paul have an obligation to fund education. Our local taxpayers have stepped up. They are paying toward our operations. I feel this falls on the state to fund,” he said.

To view a copy of the sample special election ballot, which includes details on the revoke and replace revision proposed for the operating levy, visit the Osseo School District agenda item here.  Video from the meeting located above, information regarding the levy about the 42:30 mark.