Voters casting ballots Tuesday for Minto school project
Voters in the Minto,N.D., School District are deciding the fate
of a proposed $5.8 million school expansion and renovation project on Tuesday.
Polls are open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the high school library.
A 60-percent majority is required for the referendum to pass.
The main reason for the project is to address lack of space in a
district with near-record enrollment and student population projections
indicating it will stay that way for at least the next decade, according to
Superintendent Linda Lutovsky.
K-12 enrollment of 234
this fall is just short of the record 238 set in 2004-05. Enrollment
projections indicate the student population will remain near that level or grow
over the next decade.
Open enrollment gains
over the past decade have netted the district an average net increase of 13
students annually, including 16 per year over the past three years.
If approved, the proposed
property tax increase would cost the owner of a $50,000 house an extra $166.50
annually and the owner of a $100,000 house an extra $333. Agricultural
landowners would see tax increases of about $3.50 to about $5 per acre. The
amounts vary by township, depending on agricultural production and other
factors.
Major work planned, if the
mill levy is approved, includes a 5,500-square-foot addition to the high school
and remodeling of the elementary and junior high wings. The facilities also are
in need of major renovations to address heating and ventilation problems and
other structural issues, according to Lutovsky.
The elementary school was
built in 1955; the junior high addition in 1960; and the high school wing added
in 1969.
Minto, a city of 600, is
located in Walsh County, about 30 miles north of Grand Forks.
No comments:
Post a Comment