Dover-Eyota Public Schools considers asking voters to support an operating levy

Feb. 28—EYOTA, Minn. — Although it's still considering its options, Dover-Eyota Public Schools is discussing the possibility of asking voters to support an operating referendum to avoid a forthcoming financial deficit.

After discussing the topic over several months, the district's school board plans to revisit the discussion during their upcoming March meeting. Board Chairman James Johnson said that although the district is trying to handle its finances responsibly, the possibility of seeking an operating levy is a direction in which the board is leaning.

"(We're trying to) make sure we're being good stewards of this public resource and make sure we're doing our best to bring in revenue outside of just tax revenue," Johnson said.

In light of that effort, the board has made some changes such as increasing fees. The district has also been looking for additional state funding when it's available. However, those adjustments have not been able to account for the magnitude the district needs to address.

Like other districts, Dover-Eyota has struggled with either stagnating or falling student enrollment. According to the Minnesota Department of Education, the district has 1,063 students this year. That's 30 fewer students than it had in 2019-20.

However, the district's enrollment had trended downward even before the pandemic. Just over a decade ago, in 2012-13, the district had the highest student population of the last 15 years. That year, the district had 1,153 students, which is 7.8% more than its enrollment today.

Since state aid is tied to student enrollment, a lower student population results in less funding. Added to that is the fact that inflation has resulted in the cost of doing business to increase.

With pressure coming from both sides of that equation — money coming in and money paid out — the district has already made some large adjustments. Last year, the district cut $1 million out of a $13 million budget.

"We think we did that in a way that minimized, if not prevented completely, the impact on the kids," Johnson said. "I think now we're to the point where if we keep making cuts, the experience will look different for kids."

If the district does ask taxpayers to support the district through an operating levy, it would join several other school districts that have done the same. On a much larger scale, Rochester Public Schools is getting ready to vote on whether

to renew an existing operating levy from 2015.

If Dover-Eyota does ask voters to approve a levy, it will be the second time the district will have done so in recent years. In 2022, voters

approved a levy of $21.73 million

that allowed the district to undertake various maintenance projects.

It also allowed the district to upgrade the space it uses for music, the arts, and career and technical education.

One thing the district didn't budget for in that first referendum, however, was funding for additional gym space to accommodate the district's booming wrestling program. Johnson said if they do ask voters to approve an operating levy, the district is thinking about also putting a second question on the ballot.

Whereas the first question would pertain to funding for the district's daily operations, the second question would address funding for additional gym space. Johnson said the school board will discuss the possibility of the second question during its upcoming school board meeting in March.

Despite the challenges, Johnson said the district is trying to keep a broad perspective and ultimately grow their enrollment through the investments they're making in their programming, such as the new space for career and technical education that resulted from the 2022 referendum.

"I'm hopeful that our financial challenges won't be solved through operating referendum revenue, but people will see what's happening in Eyota," Johnson said. "And that they'll be able to see that Eyota's growing and renovating and continuing to create opportunities for kids."