by Dennis Dalman
The residents of the Sartell-St. Stephen School District gave a thumbs-up to one proposed project but a thumbs-down to another in the Feb. 11 referendum election.
There were two referendum questions on the ballot.
Voters approved the first question, the indoor air-quality project at Riverview Intermediate School, but they declined to pass the second question, a proposed project for outdoor athletic facilities at Sartell High School.
In an unofficial vote tally released the morning after the Feb. 11 election, the first question passed with a vote of 1,663 to 1,149 – 59 percent yes votes, 41 percent no votes. In passing that question, voters authorized an amount not to exceed $21,930,000 for acquisition and betterment of school sites and facilities, but not limited to air-quality upgrades and deferred capital maintenance improvement at Riverview Intermediate School.
The second question was defeated by a vote of 1,709 against the proposed project compared to 1,099 votes for it – 61 percent no and 39 percent yes. For that second question to be approved, the first question would also have had to be approved. As it turned out, that didn’t matter because the second question was nixed anyway by voters.
School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Rivard reacted to the voters’ decisions this way:
“We are grateful for our Sartell-St. Stephen community supporting the project for Riverview Intermediate School, the original high school for this school district, he said. “We have heard from the community regarding the second question and will work on options (the athletic-facilities proposal) for the future.”
Riverview Intermediate School, formerly Sartell Middle School, is for students in grades 3, 4 and 5. The structure was built in 1969, and its HVAC system (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) is badly outdated and functions poorly, that results in poor air quality and fluctuating temperature control in classrooms and hallways that is harmful to optimal health and comfort and even hampers the ability to learn effectively. Both projects were part of the school district’s Facilities Master Plan, which was approved by the school board in 2015. There were plans in place to move forward with the HVAC replacement project as early as last year, but three school-board members insisted the project be placed on a ballot in a special election for voters in the school district to decide.
The following is the exact verbiage of the two questions voters were asked to decide in the Feb. 11 special-referendum election:
Question 1
Shall the board of Independent School District No. 748 (Sartell-St. Stephen Public Schools), Minnesota be authorized to issue general obligation school building bonds in the amount not to exceed $21,930,000 for acquisition and betterment of school sites and facilities, but not limited to, indoor air quality upgrades and deferred capital maintenance improvement at the Riverview Intermediate School?
Question 2
If School District Question 1 is approved, shall the board of Independent School District No. 748 (Sartell-St. Stephen Public Schools), Minnesota be authorized to issue general obligation school building bonds in an amount not to exceed $8,485,000 for acquisition and betterment of school sites and facilities, including but not limited to, outdoor improvements to athletic fields and physical education spaces at the Sartell High School?
Underneath each ballot question was an advisory to voters that approval of those questions would lead to a property-tax increase.
Riverview Intermediate School in Sartell was first built as Sartell Middle School in 1969.
