Minnesota school districts won approval for more than $1.46 billion worth of building projects Tuesday with the passage of 66 percent of bond referendums on the ballot.

Larger districts were the big winners, including South Washington School District, where voters approved an estimated $251 million in referendum asks and tech levy, and Stillwater Area School District, where voters said “yes” to a $174.8 million ask.

About 15 districts — mostly in small towns and rural parts of the state — failed in their bids, said Greg Abbott, communications director for the Minnesota School Boards Association.

In the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton district in southwest Minnesota, a $15 million question for classroom additions and a gym addition and fitness room failed by just 16 votes, 508 to 492, he said.

“You’ve got to look at the property tax base,” Abbott said. “If you have a good tax base, a bond referendum probably doesn’t impact your tax statement as much as if you’re in a little town and you’re asking for the money.”

Bond referendums and capital project levies for tech are generally easy sells because “people understand the need for tech, and people can see the need for buildings,” Abbott said.

“You can walk into a building and see that it is really overcrowded or really old and needs to be replaced. I think that helps when a voter goes to the polls. They can say, ‘Yeah, well, this building does need to be replaced or yes, this district is growing, we need to add on another school.”

Voters in the South Washington County District approved a $200 million, two-question bond referendum to fund improvements at the schools and approved a request to revoke the district’s current $2.8 million technology levy and replace it with a $5 million one.

Among the improvements planned: an addition at East Ridge High School in Woodbury and renovations at Park and Woodbury high schools; an expansion of Oltman Middle School in Cottage Grove and renovations at Woodbury Middle School, and new secure entries at Park and Woodbury high schools and Cottage Grove, Lake and Woodbury middle schools.

The questions passed with 57 percent support, 55 percent support and 52 percent support – “a good amount,” Abbott said.

In August 2022, voters in the district soundly rejected a historic $462 million bond request by a nearly two-to-one ratio.

“This year, they didn’t put it all on one question,” Abbott said. “The public had a choice on how much they wanted to vote for. In the past referendum, it was everything put together, and it seemed large, so that might have intimidated a lot of people from voting for it. When it’s broken down into different parts, you just let the people decide what they want to vote for – and in this case, they wanted it all.”

After last year’s failed referendum, district officials went to the community, gathered feedback and “really listened,” said Sharon Van Leer, board chairwoman. “We involved the community. We asked, ‘What is it that you want? Here are the things that we see, prioritize them now. Tell us what we can go after,’ and I’m telling you, it worked.”

Superintendent Julie Nielsen and district staff deserve much of the credit, Van Leer said. “They did a fabulous job. It just fell right into place, and the community got the right message, the right information at the right time.

“What they understood was this: it’s necessary for the future of our kids to provide an equitable education for all. I just want to thank the community,” she said. “I’m telling you, I’m so proud of them that I can’t hardly stand still.”

In the Stillwater Area School District, voters approved a $175 million bond referendum with 57 percent support. The money will be used to fund construction projects to address growth in the southern and central parts of the district and the addition of safety and security improvements at all district schools, including a secured front entrance addition and remodel at Stillwater Area High School in Oak Park Heights.

The two oldest elementary schools, Andersen Elementary in Bayport and Lake Elmo Elementary, will be replaced with new schools on larger plots of land. The referendum money also will be used to construct additional classroom space and a new gymnasium at Oak-Land Middle School in Lake Elmo.

Board Chairwoman Alison Sherman said district officials spent years listening to and engaging with residents before going out for the referendum.

“This was a long-time, long-term discussion that pre-dated even my time on the board,” said Sherman, who was first elected in 2020. “We took our time. We really listened to the community and engaged with the community, and respected what they had to say on multiple surveys, so our solutions were in line with what the taxpayer tolerance was.”

Sherman said she is especially proud that the referendum passed in all but three of the district’s 17 precincts. “It feels like the message got through,” she said.

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