Delano to vote on building new school

With time running out on a land purchase agreement and overcrowding at all three of its schools, Delano School District recently moved forward with plans to seek voter-approved funding for a new elementary school.

Residents should be familiar with Delano's $27 million and $980,000 bond referendum questions when they go to the polls on April 22 -- they're the same proposals voters rejected in November.

Delano is one of two metro area school districts and nine statewide, including Mankato, that will hold bond referendums this winter and spring before the state and federal elections are held in November.

School officials said winter and spring elections are tied to construction timelines and purchase agreements and don't represent an attempt to avoid the crowded political landscape of the upcoming November elections.

"Districts traditionally try to avoid big elections," said Charlie Kyte, executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators. But "I don't know if it makes a whole lot of difference one way or another."

If 2007 is any indication, proposals that go to a vote during a general election might fare worse than those held on special election dates.

Eleven of the 21 bond referendum proposals by Minnesota schools that went to a vote before or after the elections on Nov. 6, 2007, won voter approval, according to the state Department of Education. That's a 52 percent success rate.

In comparison, voters approved only nine of the 24 bond proposals that appeared on the ballot in referendums on Nov. 6. That's a 38 percent approval rate.

In Delano, one of the main factors prompting school officials to seek an early vote is the fact that the purchase agreement the district signed with the owner of the 13-acre site where the proposed elementary school would be built expires after April.

"The land [acquisition] is critical to us," Delano Superintendent John Sweet said. "This might be our last shot at these properties."

If voters approve the request, the owner of a $272,500 home would pay $15 more a year for the $980,000 land acquisition bond and $158 more a year for the $27 million construction bond.

Delano officials said the new school is critical because the district has added almost 400 students to its elementary school and the joint middle and high school building since 2002. The district also expects to add more than 300 students to its current enrollment of 2,248 by 2012.

Meanwhile, all three schools are at or above capacity, Sweet said. "This 4-6 building is designed to solve problems for our entire K-12 operation," he said.

Residents in the neighboring Orono School District also will head to the polls this week to decide the fate of a bond referendum. Orono's $39 million bond referendum is scheduled for Tuesday.

If the request passes, it would finance repairs to the mechanical and electrical systems at Orono High, Schumann Elementary and Orono Intermediate schools. The owner of a $300,000 home would pay $125 more a year and the owner of a $500,000 home would pay $209 more a year.

Orono school officials have worked to present their case to voters and combat complaints about the timing of the election. Referendum supporters have held small gatherings at district residents' homes with Superintendent Karen Orcutt, Orono Assistant Superintendent Neal Lawson and members of the district's facilities task force.

In Delano, residents haven't raised a fuss about the timing of the district's bond referendum. However, concerns were raised after November's election about why residents voted to give the district money to operate a new school for grades four through six but did not approve funds to build the school.

The district hopes to get that approval in April. And ironically, the delay could save the district more than $1.5 million over the life of its construction and land acquisition bonds because interest rates have fallen since November.

Sweet said he believes it will be easier for voters to understand what they're voting for with fewer questions on the ballot.

"Last time we had three questions and it was a lot for people to understand," Sweet said.

Patrice Relerford • 612-673-4395