Survey respondents endorse school building levy

Oct. 19—MANKATO — Nearly two-thirds of survey-taking residents said they'd support a referendum to build a new elementary school and improve existing elementary buildings in the Mankato Area School District.

There was less support for proposals to build a new high school or improve West High School.

Voters must approve new public school buildings and other major building projects, which are funded by increasing property taxes.

Last month the district sent out a survey asking residents how high of a tax levy they'd support for new schools and other building improvements and which of the proposed projects are their top priorities.

Director of Facilities and Safety Scott Hogen said the results won't be fully tabulated for a few more weeks. But school administrators gave school board members a few highlights on Monday night.

Supt. Paul Peterson described the survey as a "really important step to take the temperature of the community."

The survey first asked if the district should hold a referendum — 57% of respondents said yes, 17% said no and 26% were undecided.

The district has a wish list of building projects that would exceed $200 million.

"There's no way we can do all this at once," Peterson said. "We need to take it one bite at a time."

At the top of the list is a new elementary school and expansions or other improvements at other elementary schools, which district officials say are needed to relieve overcrowding and accommodate projected enrollment growth.

The new school would have a capacity of 600 students and would likely be on the west side of the district.

The improvements to existing elementary schools could include new and remodeled classrooms, more secure entrances, more space for student support services and space for early childhood classes at Eagle Lake Elementary School.

The total estimated cost of nearly $76 million would raise taxes on a $200,000 home by $77 a year, according to district estimates.

More than one-third of residents said they would "definitely" support a referendum in that amount, 29% said they'd "probably" support it, and less than a quarter said "definitely" or "probably" no.

The district also is looking at replacing West High School at an estimated cost of $154 million or spending up to $82 million to improve the school.

Less than a quarter of respondents supported a new West High School, but nearly half supported improvements and the rest were undecided.

The survey also asked respondents if they'd support referendums of varied amounts up to $180 million.

He did not present any detailed results Monday, but consultant Gary Benson told the board: "We have support for for sure $75.8 million and probably up to $100 million."

More than 3,000 people responded to the survey — about a 10% response rate.

Over 40% of the respondents indicated they had annual household incomes of more than $100,000. Board member Kenneth Reid suggested the district work to better engage with lower-income residents who would be the most substantially impacted by a tax increase.

The school board will hold a workshop to review the full survey results once they are completed.

The board could opt to move forward with a referendum request as soon as August or November of 2022.