Rochester district doubles down on threatened cuts if voters reject referendum

The Rochester public school district already has one operating levy on the books at a cost of $17 million per year to taxpayers. That’s because earlier this year Rochester school board members quietly took advantage of a new law that allows districts to renew existing operating levies for another ten years without voter approval. Evidently the school board wasn’t about to take any chances by putting it before voters, following the unexpected rejection of a $10 million technology referendum in 2023.

But the state’s seventh largest school district was just getting started when it comes to twisting the arms of Rochester residents for millions more dollars in funding. School leaders have doubled down, putting what would burden Rochester residents with a second operating levy at a cost of $19.4 million annually for at least a decade on the ballot on November 5.

State law prohibits school personnel from promoting a ballot question. But administrators and school board members have already warned that three schools would be on the chopping block if the measure fails. And the Post Bulletin points out they went even further with threatened cuts at the district’s last board meeting.

With Election Day less than a month away, the Rochester School Board on Tuesday approved a list of areas in which it would have to make large-scale budget cuts if voters don’t approve the district’s request for more education funding.

The School Board approved the list unanimously, and each of the members spoke about the various reasons they think the proposed levy is important for the district and the broader community.

“It’s important to recognize that the outcome of this proposal will have a dramatic effect on the desirability of Rochester to be a place to raise a family — to be a place to be able to attract and attain employees,” board member Justin Cook said.

District officials refuse to name the three schools that will close, citing the potential impact on the outcome of the vote. But that didn’t prevent them from underscoring what they warn would be catastrophic consequences on the district’s quality of education if Rochester residents fail to impose a second referendum on themselves. The cuts would supposedly result in larger class sizes and fewer bells and whistles for students.

Board Chairwoman Cathy Nathan emphasized the scale of the cuts, saying they would be unprecedented as far back as she has data.

“If the referendum does not pass, the cuts would be monumental,” Nathan said. “$19.4 million may just be an abstract number, but it is the largest single-year budget cut Rochester Public Schools has had since 1992.”

The referendum would increase the property taxes on a $400,000 house by about $400 a year for the next ten years and likely much longer. School officials could once again choose to renew the levy at that time without consulting voters.

No mention was made on whether the increased funding would improve the district’s poor marks on state tests showing only 42 percent of Rochester students were proficient in math and 50 percent of students proficient in reading. In the end, however, one school board member did reassure Rochester residents the district would keep the lights on with or without the referendum funding.

“I think it’s important to say that should the referendum fail, we will still be ISD 535,” [school board member Don] Barlow said, referring to the district’s numerical designation. “And we will still offer, to the best of our ability, the highest quality of educational services.”