West St. Paul voters say yes to retooled levy request

For officials in the West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan School District, the second time was a charm when it came to getting voters to approve tax increases to fund technology and security needs.

But after a failure last spring, they say the passage of two referendum questions last week had more to do with voter turnout than with a change in strategy.

"To be honest, we didn't do much different from a district standpoint," Superintendent Nancy Allen-Mastro said. "The significant difference this time was in voter turnout."

Fifty-four percent of the district's voters approved a $1.2 million technology levy renewal and increase and 57 percent favored a $3.2 million bond question to fund security upgrades.

"This is big for us," Allen-Mastro said.

However, 64 percent of residents rejected spending $4.5 million to build a multipurpose stadium with artificial turf on Henry Sibley High School grounds.

The mostly positive results are in contrast to what happened last May, when voters rejected a $1.7 million technology levy and an $11.2 million building bond request to build a new early childhood center and fund security updates.

There were differences in communication, too: the district held two "very well-received" referendum webinars this fall and an open house, where people could get as much information as they wanted, she said.

Across the state, 30 of 39 districts with levies on the ballot passed at least one question. But there were fewer requests this year — in 2011, there were about three times as many, an all-time high.

This time, the school board and administrators revamped what they were asking for, cutting half a million dollars from the technology request and taking the early childhood center off the table.

Board member Mark Spurr said there was a sense of urgency around the technology levy in particular, because the current one was expiring and money was needed to maintain what is already in place.

The new funding will allow the district to continue technology efforts and "scale it up, districtwide," instead of taking a "significant and, I think, severe step backward," Allen-Mastro said.

At the urging of a group of stadium relocation supporters, officials added a third question related to building a new facility, contingent on the first two passing. The current stadium is located two miles from the high school.

Surveys had indicated the stadium question "would be a bit of an uphill climb for our community," said Allen-Mastro.

But putting it on the ballot was a way to "let the community speak. At a minimum, it's a way to start a conversation." Requests for such projects often don't pass on a first try, she added.

Near last year's May vote date, a "Vote No" group materialized. The same group lobbied against the referendum this fall.

The gist of their opposition: the district shouldn't receive more funding because its test scores are too low and its budget has increased by nearly $20 million since 2004.

New iPads or a football stadium aren't going to improve test scores, said Stuart Simek, a Vote No group member.

But according to an October blog post by Allen-Mastro, the district's scores are about average for Minnesota students, and comparable to districts with a similar percentage of kids receiving free or reduced-price lunch.

In the district, 42 percent of students receive free or reduced-price lunch, an indicator of poverty. That number has increased significantly in the last decade, Allen-Mastro said.

Technology may be part of "a comprehensive solution" to the achievement gap, she wrote.

There was also an active "Vote Yes" group, Allen-Mastro said, and they deserve much of the credit for the two questions passing: "I don't think we'd have been successful without their effort."