I want to thank Nevin D. Holmberg for his candid and passionate letter last week regarding the ISD 166 levy. There are plenty of residents like him who have questions regarding why the district is asking for another fiveyear levy, and these questions need discussing.
Mr. Holmberg’s claim that the district will “go through this same song and dance again” is absolutely true. As communicated by the Levy Steering Committee, approximately 92 percent of all Minnesota school districts rely on voter-approved operating levies. Inadequate state funding for schools has led to nearly every single Minnesota district to rely on tax levies to help fund the costs of education. This is a terrible reality, one that goes far beyond corrective measures like tightening a belt or laying off a few teachers. These measures may have helped the state balance its yearly budgets, but it left districts pitted against each other to compete for students. For rural schools, it created an unfair dependence on local community members.
Where Nevin really struck a nerve was with his comments regarding football fields and cafeterias. I am an ISD 166 teacher, and I love announcing tackles and touchdowns at home football games, yet there’s no way football is more valuable than the classroom instruction my own two kids receive from my teaching colleagues. Where had I heard about this before?
Early this year, Superintendent Beth Schwarz, like all Minnesota superintendents, was charged by the state to create a 10-year facility plan. This plan was supposed to contain an all-inclusive wish list of district needs and estimated costs. It was publicly adopted by the school board, highlighted in our local paper, and sent off to the state as a way for legislators to gauge future education spending. Ultimately, the state will determine what items are needed, mandated, and which may have to wait for other funding sources (if any). I think it’s safe to say we aren’t making a new track around the football field.
It’s also important to note that the proposed levy plan will earmark $120,000 for deferred maintenance projects such as roof repair, window replacements, and other essential maintenance projects which will provide a safe and secure learning environment. Levy dollars are not to be used for remodeling or new construction.
There are a variety of open meetings scheduled all around the county for residents to ask hard questions and verify the district’s facts. I encourage you all to attend these meetings and to call on your school board representatives. Ultimately, these people will be charged with the responsibility to manage these dollars. I believe our school board members take this responsibility seriously, and they have impressed me with their own tough questions and thoughtful consideration.
Please, keep the questions coming. To learn more, visit the fundingourfuture.org site.
Michael McHugh
ISD 166 Operating Levy Steering
Committee member
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