Referendum to appear on November ballot

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

New York Mills School District residents will be heading to the polls in November to weigh in on a three-part building referendum that could cost approximately $30.6 million if the entire project is approved.

During its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, June 22, the NY Mills School Board gave the green light to place a three-part question on the November ballot. The school board has reportedly received positive feedback from a recent open house, as well as from stakeholders in the community and the school district as a whole over the past several months. 

The upcoming building referendum would not only update and upgrade much needed building and grounds maintenance, it would also expand the school’s footprint in order to alleviate the lack of space necessary to carry out regular school operations. An expansion of the building would create space for classes and extracurricular activities, storage, daily operations, and building repairs.

On June 22, the school district heard from Lori Christensen from ICS about the project as a whole, some changes that have been made for the public based on public input and the need to communicate the need for the project as a whole.

The main crux of the project is the first question, which must pass before either the second or third question can be implemented. 

As part of the first question, which has a cost of $22,500,000, the school district will touch a number of classrooms and drainage issues. Among the projects will be construction and equipping of a band and choir suite; construction and renovation to physical education space, fitness room and wrestling rooms; renovation and construction of career and technical education (CTE) spaces; construction and equipping of new classrooms; repurposing and remodeling of existing classrooms and spaces for educational needs; renovations and updates to the administrative office areas, including construction of secure entrances; renovation and equipping of the existing kitchen, concession stand, and restrooms; and addressing deferred capital maintenance including, but not limited to, flooring, main gym sound system, building envelope, water drainage and parking lot improvements.

While the district has maintained that the project behind Question 1 is necessary at this stage to continue to grow and operate efficiently and effectively, Question 2 and Question 3 are additional updates which have been specifically mentioned and sought out by community members, but that the district does not feel are absolutely essential to implement at this time.

Question 2 proposes updating the high school media center, changing the space into a commons area for students. This project along with the other two, is being pursued to have the lowest cost to taxpayers. Currently Question 2 would cost an additional $2.6 million.

Question 3 is another suggestion from the community of a new track which, because of several challenges with the current football field, would likely need to be shuffled around and implemented with a new football complex on the school’s campus. Space becomes a problem at the current football field when implementing a new track, so the thought would be to implement this project next to the school building. This project is slated to cost $5.5 million.

One thing to note about this potential tax referendum is that it will be the first voter-approved referendum since 2000 when the auditorium was built. There have been some smaller projects such as the parking lot that were paid for by tax funding, but nothing on this large a scale or which needed a vote from the public for 26 years.

Voters will have a choice between what, if any, of the projects it would like to see implemented in November. If the first question fails the second and third questions cannot be implemented, even if voters approve them. However, voters could approve the first and second questions, or the first and third questions, and those would be the only ones implemented. All three questions could also come to fruition if approved by a majority of school district voters. 

In other news

• Acknowledged the following donations: $1,000 from the NY Mills Lions Club to the football program, $250 from BTD for the fishing league, $500 from Warner Garage Door for the softball coach bus, $500 from the Bluffton Braves for the softball coach bus, $1,000 each from a pair of anonymous donors for the softball coach bus, $2,500 from the American Red Cross for a scholarship, $200 from the Karvonen and Son Funeral Home for the softball coach bus, $1,000 from the East Otter Tail Soil and Water Conservation District for FFA and $200 from the Bluffton Lions Club for the softball coach bus.

• Approved the budget revision of the 2025-26 school year that showed the general fund revenue at $11,040,126 and expenses in the general fund of $11,709,9887.

• Approved the interim budget for the 2026-27 school year that shows general fund revenue at $11,265,353 and expenses at $11,597,394. NY Mills School Superintendent Adam Johnson said the school district currently shows a deficit of approximately $332,000 as it will look at making further budget adjustments when more clarity on state funding, enrollment and unknown costs become better known later in the school year. 

• Approved the following appointments: Tyler Smith as the K-12 choral and music teacher, Adele Esala as the .5 FTE elementary teacher, Jenifer Lohmiller as the JV volleyball coach, Jamie George as elementary teacher, Karli Kawlewski as elementary teacher, Kayla Lueders as elementary special education teacher and Lindsay Kennedy as high school special ed. teacher.

• Approved the following resignations: Terry Ohlgren as trap coach, Kenna Salo as assistant volleyball coach, Angela Paavola as junior high volleyball coach and Aubrey Koehler as paraprofessional.