Voters answer schools' pleas for more money, buildings

For the most part, Minnesota voters on Election Day showed a willingness to support school districts' requests for more tax dollars, but shot down anything they considered to be fluff.

Elk River Area Schools successfully convinced voters to approve a $98 million bond request, the largest project of its kind on Tuesday's ballot.

The project calls for constructing an addition at Rogers High School, building a new school in Otsego to serve students through eighth grade, and building additions at elementary schools in Rogers and Zimmerman to be used for early education, and improving security across the district.

Overcrowding and projected future enrollment increases drove the bulk of the district's bond question. Currently, there are five schools in the district that are over capacity and enrollment projections are only expected to increase.

Another metro-area school district had saw a bond request approve was Waconia. Voters there signed off on a $75 million project that includes remodeling both the middle school and high school and building a new elementary.

Voters also overwhelmingly said "Yes" to school districts that were seeking tax dollars to pay for technology.

Now for the first time, Robbinsdale Area Schools will have a dedicated source of funding to pay for new technology that will allow teachers to get instant feedback on quizzes, provide devices for all students in grades 5-12 and add white boards among other things.

"We are incredibly grateful to voters for these results," said Superintendent Aldo Sicoli. "We – like most Minnesota school districts – rely on our operating levy for daily operations, as it provides about 13% of our budget. The addition of a technology levy will provide a stable source of funding to enable us to fully implement our comprehensive, research-based technology plan that will support student learning."

Also approving tech levy requests were voters in the Mound-Westonka, St. Anthony-New Brighton and West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan school districts.

While voters were willing to pay for technology improvements in West St. Paul, they roundly rejected the district's request to build a new stadium with artificial turf on the Henry Sibley High School campus. The current athletic facility, Charles Matson Field, is at a middle school in West St. Paul.

Some local business owners had been vocal in their opposition to the stadium project and argued the district should be more focused on boosting student academic achievement.