By Kari Dwinnell
I’ve been a member of the St. Michael-Albertville (STMA) community for 40 years. While I’m honored to have been elected this past November to serve on the school board, today I’m writing to you as a neighbor, active community member, and parent.
Because of the success of the STMA school district over the years, our community has become a popular place to live and raise a family. For many of us, STMA’s standard of excellence in educating the whole child is our top local priority. By voting “Yes” on the bond referendum, we can be assured this tradition will continue.
The bond referendum will ask voters to approve a modest package of important improvements including additional school entrance security, updating technology so that our classroom computers aren’t a decade old, making needed improvements to school buildings and facilities, and adding more classrooms so our kids don’t have to learn in rented trailers.
Certainly, there has been debate about the merits of this bond referendum. Some have posed questions about specific parts of the referendum. These questions require a response.
Some have questioned why the referendum is a single package instead of individual line item questions. The school board made the right decision to put forward a single package of needs. Instead of pitting needs against each other, this allows for STMA residents to unify around shared needs.
Some have discussed the issue of fiscal responsibility regarding this referendum. To be clear, a “Yes” vote on this referendum is the fiscally responsible vote. Given the fact that state aid will pay 60 percent of the cost of the referendum, this is a great return-on-investment for STMA taxpayers. Additionally, the cost to address our needs will only grow should this referendum not succeed. Allowing this referendum to fail is a fiscally irresponsible decision for local taxpayers.
Questions have also been raised about the inclusion of athletic facilities in the referendum. Given the rapid pace of community growth over the years, the interest in participating in school district extra-curricular programs (which is a key component to a student’s education) has risen significantly as well. Within our community, there’s a market-driven demand to make sure we have the space and facilities necessary to accommodate not only our students, but our community members as well. The proposed new facilities would be used for extra-curricular purposes and accessible for use by the public.
Some have suggested it would have been wiser to put the bond referendum on the November ballot. With the school board making the decision in October to hold the referendum, it would have been virtually impossible to put the referendum on the November ballot. Additionally, our community would not have been given an appropriate amount of time to learn about the bond referendum, especially given the volume and tenor of the presidential race. Our local schools matter and deserve attention independent of national politics.
Recently, officials with the STMA school district held a public meeting to provide information about the referendum and answer questions – friendly or otherwise – from the public. Given the scant amount of questions asked during the recent forum, I encourage those who continue to harbor misgivings about the referendum to attend one of the two upcoming public meetings on January 19. The morning meeting will take place at 9:30 a.m. at St. Michael City Hall and the evening meeting will take place at STMA High School Performing Arts Center at 7:00 p.m. Questions from the public are encouraged and welcomed.
The bottom line is we are a growing community. We need to meet the needs this growth has prompted. We can build upon STMA’s previous success by voting “Yes” on February 7!
Dwinnell is a longtime STMA School District resident and was voted to the STMA School Board back in November 2016.