Rochester voters to decide on $20 million school referendum

ROCHESTER - School district officials here are warning of increased class sizes, school closures and cuts to student services if a $19.4 million referendum fails to win voter approval this November.

If that sounds familiar, it's because this will be the second time in as many years Rochester Public Schools has asked voters for additional funding. Last year's referendum — for half the amount being asked this time around — failed by 318 votes, prompting Mayo Clinic to step in and make a one-time donation of $10 million to the district.

This time around, the district says the stakes are even higher. The district has already cut $21 million from the budget over the past two years and says any additional reductions would be felt across the board.

"For us, there's no other choice," said Rochester Superintendent Kent Pekel. "We knew if it didn't pass last year, we had one more year. That's done. If it doesn't pass this year, we are making $20 million in cuts for the next year."

If approved, the operating referendum would give the district $194 million in additional funding over the next 10 years. Because of changes made by the Legislature in 2023, the district would have the ability to extend the levy for another decade without voter approval — something it has already done with a 2015 voter-approved levy.

The district, the seventh-largest in Minnesota, says the funding would be used to maintain a slew of programs and positions, including those supporting students struggling academically, accelerated learning opportunities, vocational training and mental health services — some of which had been paid for using one-time federal COVID dollars, which are set to expire this year.

"Those are the kinds of things that when a school district gets into deep financial trouble, they are the first things to be cut," Pekel said in an interview. "But those are the things that ignite student learning."

Pekel said there have been misconceptions about the state of school budgets since the Legislature approved $2.2 billion in new K-12 funding a year ago. Up to half of that money, however, covers new mandates, such as a free lunch.

"Every time one of our legislators or even the governor talked about 'historic funding for K-12,' I got a pit in my stomach," Pekel said. "Because think about what that language means: It just means bigger than in the past. It doesn't mean adequate to fund the state's standards."

The referendum would increase Rochester's local share of per-pupil spending to $2,076, up from $943 now. The district currently ranks last in voter-approved levy funding among the 15 Minnesota school districts in the state with more than 10,000 students, with some districts in the Twin Cities suburbs spending two to three times as much as Rochester.

The effect on property owners would be a $396 annual tax increase on homes valued at $400,000.

John Whelan, a candidate for the Rochester School Board, is among the staunchest critics of the levy increase. He points to standardized test scores that showed only marginal improvement from two years ago — with 42% of students proficient in math and 50% in reading — as evidence that the district is not prioritizing spending on the most basic academic needs.

"The answer is not spending money; the answer is spending what you have wisely," said Whelan, who is running a second time for the school board after losing in 2022. "We are not getting results out of this organization and it's the height of arrogance for them to be asking for twice as much money as the voters rejected a year ago."

When the district put the referendum on the ballot last year, it asked for a $10.1 million capital projects levy to fund technology — with the goal of freeing up millions already being spent on technology for other operating expenses.

Pekel admits the messaging was confusing and contributed to voters rejecting the levy. This time around, Pekel said he's heard from parents who want the district to be direct about what it needs to sustain student services. He is hoping those parents show up in greater numbers in November with a presidential race expected to boost turnout. The turnout for the 2023 referendum was 27%.

Kate Penz, who has three children at the district's Lincoln K-8 choice school, said she plans to support the referendum. She has watched as her children's class sizes have gone up, while other students have had to leave the school altogether as a result of cuts to transportation and after-school programming.

"It comes down to class sizes and the actual environment that our kids are in," Penz said, noting she worries about what else might be coming if the levy is not approved.