Stewartville Public Schools pivots plans for district projects following 2022 referendum

Jul. 24—STEWARTVILLE — As Stewartville Public Schools

gets ready to ask voters for a large infusion of funding

this fall, it first had to decide how to differentiate its request from the smaller one voters turned down last year.

In 2022, voters in the school district rejected a

bond referendum of $38 million

with more than 70% of the vote. This year, the district is making its request again, only with a much larger price tag of more than $60 million.

That begs the question: why do school leaders think voters will approve a much larger request when they didn't approve the smaller request?

"It was pretty clear that the scope of the project was just not right; it was the wrong project," School Board member Will Welch said about the 2022 bond request that voters turned down.

There is some overlap between the two proposals. For example, both proposals either have or had language that would fund secure entrances and new science classroom space at the high school.

But they also include differences. The 2022 proposal had language for the renovation of the track. The 2023 proposal has specific language for the creation of a new community fitness center and weight room at the high school.

The biggest difference between the two proposals, however, is in the construction of a new school. In 2022, the proposal would have paved the way for the construction of an early education center. This year's proposal calls for the construction of a K-2 building instead.

Welch said there was hesitancy from voters about spending money on early childhood education that, while beneficial, is not actually required.

"It was the wrong project, and the voters told us that," Welch said about the proposed early learning center. "Preschool is not a day care. Early childhood is not a day care, but there is a sentiment that it is."

Currently, the district has one elementary school, an intermediate school, and a middle school and a high school, which are connected together.

With K-2 students in the new building, the district's central offices and early learning program would move into Bonner Elementary. He said the district has yet to decide what it would do with the district's oldest building, which is known as Central.

After last year's bond request failed, the district's administration put in a lot of effort to understand what kind of request the community would support. They surveyed voters. They held listening sessions with teachers, support staff and the broader community. They coordinated with the city of Racine, the city of Stewartville and the Chamber of Commerce.

Of those who took part in the survey, 56% voted "no" on the referendum's first question and 57% voted "no" on the referendum's second question.

The top reason respondents gave for their "no" vote was that the tax impact would be too high. The second leading reason for people voting no, however, was that they were not comfortable with building a new EEC. The third leading cause for people voting no was a "lack of faith in planning process."

Whether the changes between last year's proposal and this year's proposal is enough to convince voters is yet to be seen. Regardless of what the community decides, however, Welch said they are doing everything possible to make sure they have the information needed to make an informed choice.

"We feel very confident that we listened to the public," he said. "I also think we're very confident we're going to do our very best to inform the public on what this project looks like and what it will do for our community."