If you talk to St. Paul school district officials, they'll tell you, there's a "lot at stake" with the pending $30 million referendum.
Seventeen million dollars of the referendum is for a renewal of a four year plan that, district officials say, has proven to increase student achievement. The balance of the proposal would offer all day kindergarten and pre-school for 4-year olds.
Maria Castro is principal at Roosevelt Westside Elementary. She says if the referendum fails she'll be forced to cut her staff of teachers of English Language Learners. Castro says that would be detrimental to the overall mission to improve achievement, since 75 percent of her students come from homes where English is a second language.
Castro says, "I know the money is well spent. Those are resources that we can't afford to do without. The money is directly linked to improved test scores."
If the six year plan passes, the average property tax increase for a median priced home of $175,000 would be $84.47.
Lois Rockney is the Budget Director for Saint Paul Public Schools and agrees the stakes are high. "If you look at how St. Paul schools compare to other metro districts, in terms of referendum money, we're at the very bottom. We get $331 per pupil, while there are some with referendum spending per student at high as $2,000 per student."
Campaign canvassers plan to spend the next two weeks continuing their effort to make sure voters know about the referendum, and know that the proposal is on the backside of the ballot. Julia Rybak of Take Action Minnesota says that means voters need to look further than the first portion of the ballot. Rybak says they'll need to flip the ballot over and vote on the referendum.
By Rondah Kinchlow, KARE 11 News
