The inside story on Minnetrista local issues: This blog is to inform citizens and give them a perspective on matters of importance in Minnetrista, MN. Opinions posted here are my own and do not reflect official positions of any public body or official.
I can imagine the discussion last fall among YesWestonka leadership about how to hide from voters who the largest contributors were to their organization, which supported the recently passed bond referendum last November: “We can’t let the public know the majority of our donations will be coming from unidentified cash donors, the teacher’s union and one other donor. That wouldn’t look good. How can we conceal that from voters without getting in trouble?”
“Easy…don’t report the largest contributions until AFTER the election. That way voters won’t know that the teacher’s union and one other donor were the two largest contributors to YesWestonka. Just wait and report them in December.”
The primary purpose of filing campaign finance reports is to inform voters where contributions come from and identify sources that may be influencing campaign committees. In this case the identities of YesWestonka’s largest donors were hidden from voters.
The campaign committee also took in close to $3,000 from unidentified cash donors. That’s an alarming number given it amounts to approximately a third of their total campaign revenue.
For a referendum that barely squeaked by, it does make one wonder if the election outcome might have been different had voters known who was bankrolling the effort. Unfortunately, it’s not even illegal what they did. But it is deceitful and it’s concerning these deceptive practices aren’t being called out in the news media.
Regardless of which side you were on regarding the recently passed controversial $93.4M bond referendum, for remodeling Westonka’s high school, the fact remains it passed.
So, what now? At the January 8 school board meeting a resident, former school board member and structural engineer, made a presentation to the board proposing an alternative plan to using the $93.4M for a high school remodel. The solution proposed would, he asserts, satisfy the goals articulated in the referendum of providing more room at the high school, while simultaneously addressing future facility needs at the middle school and forestalling the need for a future referendum:
Tom Notch addresses Westonka School Board
The alternative plan suggests using a portion of the funds to build a new, larger middle school (already being discussed for yet another, future referendum) and moving 8th graders, currently attending the high school, to the new, larger middle school on property the school already owns. Removing 8th graders from the high school would provide the space needed for expansion needs there.
In addition to getting the needed space at the high school, and a new, larger middle school, the plan proposes keeping the referendum funds allocated to sports facility upgrades and safety measures intact.
Anticipating the school board’s possible concern about abandoning the previous, pre-referendum, proposal the plan points to language that would allow the switch to an alternative plan as long as it addresses “the acquisition and betterment of school sites and facilities.”
The question is: Is the Westonka School Board interested in a more efficient and cost-effective way of accomplishing the district’s long-term facility needs? Or will they forge ahead with a flawed plan, knowing they can always come back to the well and ask for more?
Please scroll down to read the complete proposal presented to the school board:
New Middle School Option for the Westonka School District
December 18, 2023
Dear Westonka School Facility Committee Members and Attendees,
I believe it is clear the School District should be looking at building a new middle school to replace Grandview as opposed to putting five small very expensive additions on the High School.
As a structural engineer with 50 years of experience, I can attest that adding 5 small additions to MWHS may compromise the building’s integrity for several reasons. While it is true the interior of the building has few interior bearing walls and would allow for modifications, the exterior of the building consists of a brick and block masonry wall that is full height from the foundation all the way up to the top of the parapet above the roof. Any openings through those walls must be supported by large lintels with vertical supports to maintain integrity for gravity and wind loads. The existing wall footings under the exterior masonry walls are only sized for the loads present at the time the facility was constructed and will certainly require underpinning footings or adjacent new foundation pads to accept any new gravity loads from proposed building additions. This gets very expensive, very quickly. Another concern is when you introduce higher and lower elevations at the roof line as will be the case here, snow buildup and its associated snow load support design along with roof water management must be analyzed.
After studying the attached Review and Comment (R&C) document, it is my opinion that Westonka Schools has been incredibly poorly served by Wold Architects. One significant error on page 42 of the R&C is that Wold Architects’ School Capacity Analysis indicates grades 9 through 12 (4 years) are housed at MWHS. MWHS houses grades 8 through 12 (5 years) and has done so for decades. If the school district needs space at MWHS for vocational, nursing and other offerings; I submit that it would be wise for Westonka to consider moving 8th grade out of MWHS to free up plenty of space. It would be equivalent to an addition of 25% of the total area being made to the High School without any major construction required and the associated concerns of disrupting the educational environment over a two year period of time.
If we think outside the box for a moment and take away the proposed costs associated with the Grandview MS along with the additions and associated remodeling at the High School, we will find it is less costly to replace the middle school at this time and forgo the major work at the High School.
Here is the math: Funds earmarked for the High School’s additions / remodeling is $47.117 million, plus amounts scheduled for the Grandview School of $3.8 million for maintenance and $2.5 million for security upgrades equals $53.4 million. The cost to build a new middle school is about $400 per square foot (per Finance & Commerce Oct.4, 2023 article plus 28% inflation over 4 years). If we wanted to put the 8th grade back into a new middle school and have it accommodate grades 5 to 8 as is common practice, we would need a total area of about 92,470 square feet (Grandview’s current area) x 1.33 = 123,000 square feet. Total approximate cost of new middle school will be $49.2 million which is $4.2 million less than the current $53.4 million amount; therefore, a new middle school should be the project taken as opposed to making numerous expensive additions to the high school. In addition to the $4.2 million saving would be the value of the 11.57 acre site on Dutch Lake that the Grandview School is located at. I would suspect this property will be worth somewhere between $2 million and $3 million bringing the total savings to around $7 million. This potential saving may be reduced if a portion of the $47.117 million dollar amount scheduled for High School additions / remodeling needs to remain for remodeling. It is clear the majority of this amount was for the building additions; however, I don’t have estimate sheets from Wold or Kraus Anderson to establish these numbers. I submitted a public data request for this information months ago and never received the estimates from the school district.
Grandview Middle School was constructed in 1958 and will be 90 years old in 2048 when the last payments on the 2023 bond are made. If the school district builds a new middle school at this time, we will have a fairly current 25 year old facility at the end of the bond as opposed to having a 90 year old building ready to be demolished. I truly believe that the district was incredibly poorly served by Wold Architects on their work guiding us in this direction. The fact that Wold did not even know the High School was housing grades 8 thru 12 as opposed to grades 9 thru 12 should raise significant red flags regarding the reliability of their advice (see attached p.42 of Review & Comment).
According to the MN Department of Education’s “Guide for Planning School Construction Projects in Minnesota”, we have adequate property to construct a new middle school on our existing property on Sunnyfield Road. If the district feels more property would be required, there is a 19.84 acre site that is immediately north of the baseball field and bus garage on the north side of Sunnyfield Road that could be acquired. This parcel was sold in June of 2023 for only $96,150 (see attached map).
The language defining the project on page 4, page 16, and page 20, in addition to the actual bond question on page 135 of the Review & Comment document gives the district latitude to change the direction of the project as long as it is for “the acquisition and betterment of school sites and facilities”.
Thanks for your willingness to review this option for the community.
Please contact me if you have any questions at all.
It was a very close election yesterday, but with voter turnout at only 35% the result can’t be assumed toreflect the wishes of the majority of school district residents. The whopper bond on Question #2 barely squeaked by with only a 110 vote lead out of 5,132 votes.
There is no question if this referendum had been held in an even numbered year, where voter turnout is typically 60-80%, it would have gone down in flames. But the Westonka school board knows that and realizes their ability to suppress opposition voting is much better during an off-year when other statewide races don’t draw their opposition voters to the polls.
In addition, Question #2, which will increase district property taxes for the capital projects levy, passed as well and 100% of the incumbent school board members were reelected.
The only solution to repairing the public’s trust in school district elections is to require they be held in even numbered years, when voter turnout is higher and outcomes are more likely to represent the community as a whole. But that would require a school board that values the voice of the majority.
Since Westonka doesn’t have a school board that values the voice of the majority, the only vehicle to accomplish getting rid of these off-year, voter suppressive elections, is for residents to petition to have a referendum on the ballot requiring them to do so.
If you’re in the Westonka school district there’s a whopper of a reason to get to the polls on Tuesday, November 7: Nearly $200 MILLION DOLLARS of debt, which includes MORE THAN $77 MILLION DOLLARS in interest alone on the new facilities $93.4M bond question #2.
Property taxes will be rising, regardless of the Westonka referendum, given both Minnetrista and Mound have indicated double digit percentage increases for their 2024 tax levies.
Also on the ballot are four school board seats. There is only one “parent endorsed” candidate on the Westonka ballot, endorsed by the Minnesota Parents Alliance in their voter guide. Voters do not need to cast four votes if they don’t support four candidates. Voters may cast just one vote for school board if they wish and their ballot will still be valid and counted.
GET OUT AND VOTE! Tuesday, November 7 Polls are open 7am to 8pm:
Westonka Educational Service Center, 5901 Sunnyfield Road E, Minnetrista, for voters in Independence P-01, Minnetrista P-1, Mound P-1, Mound P-2 and Orono P-03.
St. John’s Lutheran Church, 2451 Fairview Lane, Mound, for voters in Minnetrista P-4, Mound P-3, Mound P-4, Shorewood P-1 and Spring Park P-01.
Use the pollfinder if you’re unsure of your precinct.
The Westonka Bond Con continues. Most of the focus of the Westonka school district election coming up has been on the whopper $170 Million dollars ($93.4M bond plus 5% interest for 25 years) for a high school remodel (what the majority of the bond is allocated for). But, there’s another question, question #1, on the ballot asking voters to renew a soon to expire annual $2.575 million dollar capital projects levy.
First, it’s not just $2.575 million dollars. The levy is for ten years so the amount voters are considering is over TWENTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS, NOT 2.5M. Promotional info drumming up support for the measure takes great care to only focus on annual numbers, as the true cost of these bonds are rather alarming.
The strategy is to minimize the amounts and tax impact in hopes of lowering voter turnout. School district voters might actually show up if they knew they were going to be voting on close to TWO HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS that could begin hitting their taxes in 2024.
Second, and more importantly, they’re leading voters to think that renewing the expiring levy has no impact on their taxes. Seriously. They actually have a chart on the school district website (see below)! I know they assume everyone is a low information voter, but extending a $25,000,000 levy absolutely DOES impact taxes. How could it not?!
The fact the district is duping voters into thinking that another $25 million dollar commitment won’t impact their taxes is outrageously deceptive.
If the levy is NOT renewed it will absolutely result in a levy DECREASE. The expired levy would go away having been paid off. So how could there be no impact on taxes if it doesn’t go away? I’m confused.
A “yes” vote means you’re agreeing to keep making payments on an expired levy totaling over $25,000,000 passed in 2014, without the benefit of disclosures required for new bond referendums.
A “no” vote means you realize that the 2014 levy, authorized for ten years, has expired, been paid off and you’re not agreeing to keep making payments on it for another 10 years.
Don’t fall for the con. There will be a decrease in the levy if the renewal fails, and there will be a corresponding impact to property taxes if it passes.
Early voting begins Friday, September 22 in Suite A of the Educational Service Center, 5901 Sunnyfield Rd. E., Minnetrista, MN. Go to the pollfinder to find out where to vote on Election Day, Tuesday, November 7.
The League of Women Voters encouraged attendees (in person and online) to submit questions for the Westonka school board candidates at the forum last night. Candidates attending were incumbents Ralph Harrison, Heidi Marty and Brian Roath as well as newcomers David Olson and John Quinn. There are four seats up for election with six candidates running. Candidate Christopher Reffkin was not present.
The one and only question I submitted was to ask if any of the candidates were endorsed by the Minnesota Parents Alliance, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that endorses school board candidates who are aligned with their mission of prioritizing academic achievement, equality and parental rights in their school district. My question was not allowed. Shocker.
The soft-ball questions allowed, were predictable and the answers to them by all the five candidates attending were virtually interchangeable with each other.
All supported the $93.4M bond referendum for the high school remodel (actually $170M including 5% interest over 25 years). Incumbent Ralph Harrison even said it was almost embarassing how little money Westonka has spent on school facilities….while sitting on the stage of Westonka’s new $22 Million dollar Performing Arts Center!
All the candidates indicated opposition in response to the following question: “What is your position on books being pulled from school library shelves or pulled from curriculum in response to requests from parents?” Ralph Harrison seemed particularly unwilling to tolerate the opinions of concerned parents, going as far as to say “I have little tolerance for this lack of intellectual freedom.”
The most frequently heard phrase of the evening was “I agree with all the statements made….” by the other candidates. It was clear there wasn’t a single independent, original thinker at the table. Truly a unified bunch.
If voters are happy with taxes escalating, academic achievement falling and cookie cutter candidates who rubber stamp the bureaucratic administration/teachers union directives then these five candidates will deliver.
If you’d like to see a change you’ll have to vote. But you don’t have to cast a vote for all four seats if there aren’t four candidates you truly support. You can vote for one, two, or even none and your ballot will still be counted for your choice on the bond referendum.
Early voting begins Friday, September 22 in Suite A of the Educational Service Center, 5901 Sunnyfield Rd. E., Minnetrista, MN. Go to the pollfinder to find out where to vote on Election Day, Tuesday, November 7.
Minnetrista residents will be feeling the pinch when they get their property tax assessments for 2024 if the 15.1% preliminary increase to the city’s net levy is adopted before year-end. Public comment is scheduled for Monday, December 4, 2023 at 7pm at city hall. The city council has the authority to lower the increase before making it final in December.
Some of the drivers of the increase include a 19.5% increase to the public works and law enforcement labor contracts for the years 2024 through 2026. Public works increases were approved at 12.25% for 2024; 3.5% for 2025; and 3.75% for 2026. For law enforcement the increase was approved for 10% for officers in 2024 (10.5% for sergeants/lieutenants), 5% increase for 2025, and 4% increase for 2026.
Another factor driving the hike is a 62.22% increase in debt, a 40% increase in snow & ice removal and, of course, inflation bringing the city’s gross levy for 2024 to $6,693,104.
If Minnetrista property owners live in the Westonka school district there is another increase to their property tax coming if the school’s $93.4M ($170M including 5% interest for 25 years) bond referendum passes on November 7.
I asked Bing AI to look up the history of the city’s preliminary tax levy increases for the last seven years, between 2017 through 2023:
To calculate the gross tax levy percentage increase from 2017 to 2023, we can use the following formula:
Gross Tax Levy Percentage Increase = ((Final Levy - Initial Levy) / Initial Levy) * 100
Using this formula and the data from above, we can calculate that the gross tax levy percentage increase for 2017 to 2023, a seven year period, is approximately 23.49%.
Why is it, when the MAJORITY of the proposed Westonka Schools’ bond is allocated for a high school remodel, the district’s description has the high school remodel listed as the last of three priorities? It lists safety/security first, misleading voters to think safety is the primary purpose of the bond. The MAJORITY of the bond is for a high school remodel, not safety and not maintenance.
Voters are being intentionally misled to believe the bond is all about safety and security. Who wouldn’t want to keep kids safe, right? See below the “Yes Westonka” (independent political committee promoting the bond) graphic from Facebook yesterday:
Did I mention this is a total of over $170 MILLION DOLLARS ($93.4M plus 5% interest for 25 years) district taxpayers will be paying back? ‘Yes Westonka’ doesn’t tell you that though. The tax calculator the district provides only calculates the first year’s property tax increase on a property, neglecting to mention it will go up, more than doubling by year nine!
Voters think they will be paying back $93.4M but in reality will be paying back over $170M.
Even the approved language that will be on the ballot buries, at the very end, what the majority of the bond is allocated for:
“Shall the school board of Independent School District No. 277 (Westonka Public Schools) be authorized to issue its general obligation school building bonds in an amount not to exceed $93,400,000 to provide funds for the acquisition and betterment of school sites and facilities, including the construction of secure entrances and other safety and security improvements at all school sites and facilities; districtwide deferred maintenance projects, including replacement of boilers, piping and electrical systems; the redesign,renovation and equipping of academic and activity spaces at the Mound Westonka High School site and facility; and the reconstruction and repair of athletic fields, tennis courts and track?“
If the school district wants to ask property owners to hand over millions of dollars, there is an obligation to tell voters the primary purpose of the bond and what the total increase in property taxes would be over its 25 years. That transparency, however, would likely jeopardize the election.
These underhanded strategies to intentionally mislead voters would never be tolerated if perpetrated by an individual or private sector corporation but for the Westonka school district it’s business as usual.
The district knows they have to hide the purpose and true cost of this bond referendum from the voters if they want it to pass. VOTE NO! STOP THE CON.
Early voting begins Friday, September 22 in Suite A of the Educational Service Center, 5901 Sunnyfield Rd. E., Minnetrista, MN. Go to the pollfinder to find out where to vote on Election Day, Tuesday, November 7.
The Westonka School Board is meeting Monday night, June 5, 2023 at 6pm in the Performing Arts Center to discuss a facilities $91.5M bond referendum for the November 2023 ballot. The bond would ultimately cost school district taxpayers $170M according to the school’s financial analysis, more than doubling the district’s current debt load.
According to the MN Department of Education Score Card, Westonka schools have shown a continuous decline, since 2019, in the number of students meeting standards in math. Westonka’s students are also performing worse today than they were in 2018 in all three core areas of math, reading, and science.
This is not a facilities problem. However, the school district, nonetheless, is asking taxpayers to open their wallets, once again, to hand them an additional $91.5M to upgrade facilities. Their last successful facilities bond referendum was for $22M in 2016.
In order to figure out how much taxpayers were willing to fork over for different kinds of “facility improvements” the school district conducted two, separate, community surveys within the past year. The latest was completed in May of 2023. Both surveys were very similar, focusing on voter perceptions of school performance, capacity, funding, etc. Although the questions were similar on both, the number of people surveyed and the amount of the proposed referendums were significantly different.
The first survey, completed in September 2022 asked 400 participants about their views on a proposed $65M bond referendum. The second, subsequent survey, asked 625 participants about a $93M bond referendum. The earlier September survey was discovered by this author only after a data practices request showed the school district had paid Morris Leatherman $16,000 for the first survey and then paid them an additional $9,000 for the second one.
Readers might wonder why the school district only publicized the results of the latter, second survey. The following could be why:
First Survey (400 participants/$65M referendum):
“lack of funding” was indicated by only 16% as a serious issue.
“facility needs” was indicated by only 3% as a serious issue.
40% indicated they were “unsure” or “nothing” was a serious issue with the school district.
Job performance rating of teachers far exceeded ratings for school board members and administrator (question was dropped from 2nd survey)
44% said property taxes were high
59% said school is adequately funded
84% said school facilities were Excellent or Good
38% opposed “HS Stadium” referendum spending
Only 21% didn’t agree with the statement “Westonka School District currently provides for sufficient learning spaces”
Only 38% didn’t agree with the statement “Westonka has enough school space to accommodate enrollment”
Survey showed a large majority, 57%, were labeled “persuadables,” (i.e., not totally supportive) of a $65M referendum.
Some additional reasons could be:
Survey #2 showed a smaller percentage of “persuadables” at 47% regarding a $93M referendum (total opposition went up from 22% to 26% with increased amount).
Both surveys showed that 40% of residents are unwilling to support any property tax increase over $8/mo, and the proposed $91.5M referendum is estimated to cost a $500K homeowner $244 per year for 25 years ($6,100 total). That’s on top of the $132 per year ($2,000 total) that homeowner is already paying for the last $22M facilities referendum in 2016.
The referendum amount of $65M on the first survey showed a smaller percentage thinking the proposal was a “bad idea” (21%) vs 29% thinking the $93M referendum was a “bad idea” on survey #2.
When asked if the referendum amount was a “Fair Price,” answers went from 35% saying “No” to the $65M referendum, to $40% saying “No” to the $93M referendum.
For those who would like to ask questions of the Westonka school board or examine the surveys and presentations regarding the proposed referendum, you can find all the information on the school’s website.
Powerline Blog’s John Hinderacker posted an excellent discussion this morning on Critical Race Theory (CRT) being the top issue in school board elections throughout the country. I encourage voters to read it here: CRT: IT DOESN’T EXIST…AND IT’S AWESOME! The local Westonka community has had it’s share of these discussions and the issue will hopefully drive a much higher turnout to the school board election tomorrow, November 2, than most.
CRT, as Hinderacker states, “is a racist and anti-American set of dogmas” and is a vehicle to influence our students’ perceptions of the world and indoctrinate them. We must ask current school board members why they don’t denounce it. To claim it doesn’t exist is nonsense but unfortunately that is all the incumbent school board members are willing to say and how they have evaded the issue that everyone else is aware of.
GET TO THE POLLS, WESTONKA, AND VOTE!
November 2, Polls open from 7am-8pm. Two locations:
Mount Olive Lutheran Church fellowship hall, 5218 Bartlett Blvd., Mound
School district offices, Educational Service Center community room, 5901 Sunnyfield Rd. E., Minnetrista
Minnetrista Governance Blog 