Survey: Residents Support Stillwater Schools, but Passing a Levy 'Is No Walk in the Park'

A recent survey of district residents suggest there is a high level of support for Stillwater Area Public Schools, but passing a levy referendum this fall is “by no means a walk in the park.”

Bill Morris of Decisions Resources shared that message with board members Thursday when he provided an overview of the results from a recently conducted survey of 400 district residents.

The board should consider placing one levy question on the ballot this November that includes a renewal of the expiring levy and an increase to help fund the strategic plan, Morris said.

To do that, District 834 would ask voters to approve a levy at three-quarters of the state cap—or about $1,494 per student. The current levy is $1,012 per student; the state cap is $1,671 per student.

He also suggested the board consider including funding to enhance safety in the schools, which can be rolled into one levy question.

“Passing a levy is never easy,” Morris said. “It will require quite an effort. But overall, I believe this is a good year to put a reasonable levy request on the ballot.”

A decision will be made about the levy question on April 11, but the school board expressed unanimous support for increasing the levy, and extending it out for 10 years.

“This will be the fourth levy I’ve worked on,” School Board Chair Kathy Buchholtz said. “The time and effort it takes our staff to prepare for a levy is at least a good six months, and that time and effort should be time spent with our students in the classroom… In addition to support of the levy, the other thing we saw in the data is people are concerned and they want stable funding. This is the best way we can insure that for the community.”

When Student Board Member Ella Richman, asked what the levy means to the strategic plan, Superintendent Corey Lunn said: If the levy does not pass, there is no strategic plan and the board will cut $11 million; if it passes, the $11 million is protected and the district can move forward with the strategic plan.

“Two years ago, when I started, we had a levy proposal, but we didn’t have a list of what they were going to cut or lose, or how the dollars were going to be invested,” Lunn said. “We didn’t have a clear plan with what we were going to do with the money and we didn’t have a lot of time.

“We’re sitting here today in a much different place. We have a tremendous amount of more accountability, I believe. We have a detailed list of what the money is going to be invested for, what the new money will be used for and that goes to kids, the classrooms and programs and we have a lot of time to talk to people. As we move forward, we will make that much more transparent to the public.”

“It’s all or nothing,” School Board Member Natasha Fleischman added.

According to the Survey (see PDF):

When testing support for a levy without any details of how dollars would be spent, the survey found 71 percent of respondents would support a straight renewal of the existing levy, which equates to $1,012 per student.

Knowing that a straight renewal would still leave the district with an annual shortfall of between $4 to $6 million, board members had asked Morris’ team to test a levy increase as well.

Any new dollars would help to offset the annual shortfall, while providing new money to support initiatives in the strategic plan. The survey asked respondents to consider a levy increase under the state cap, which is set at $1,671.

At three-quarters to the state levy cap, which equates to $1,494 per student, support from respondents was at 56 percent.

When asked for the level of support at halfway to the state cap, which is $1,333 per student, there was no significant decrease of support.

When asked how they’d like to see new levy dollars invested, respondents supported anti-bullying programs and new curriculum and materials at a rate of nearly 3 to 1.

College and career programs, mental health support and elementary programs like world language and art were supported at more than 2 to 1. This is consistent with the action steps contained in the new strategic plan.