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Where’s the talk on the building bond?

The silence has been deafening. There has been little said by the general public about the May 12 Glencoe-Silver Lake school bond referendum, which is less than a month away.
Few people have attended the informational meetings, few people have toured the school facilities to see the space problems first hand, and few people are even talking about it.
I always took that as a bad omen. Others take that as a hopeful sign. Either people have already made up their minds, or they just don’t care.
But I have had some experience with school bond referendums in over 40 years of covering school boards throughout Minnesota and in parts of Ontario and Iowa. The one thing I’ve learned is that neglect of the local educational system leads to bad outcomes. Also, lack of a community conversation about the local school system is not a good sign.
I was in Blue Earth when four school districts (Blue Earth, Winnebago, Delavan and Elmore) got together to form Blue Earth Area. It was controversial to say the least.
Also controversial was the construction of the new Blue Earth High School in about 1990. It came about with the aid of state funding, one of the last state-aided new school buildings in Minnesota.
Blue Earth received the state aid by chance after Arlington-Green Isle-Henderson voters rejected a new building plan partially paid by the state in 1988. The state offered to pay $8 million toward the $11 million project, and the A-GI-H voters shot it down.
That state money went instead toward Blue Earth’s $15 million high school.
Fast forward 25 years and Arlington-Green Isle has since joined with Gaylord to form Sibley East. Sibley East voters recently approved a controversial $43 million school bond by a small margin. It could have had a new building for a third the price had they voted that way a generation before.
Also look at Brownton and Stewart, who formed McLeod West years ago. Lack of enough support for a building bond ended that school district, and it dissolved. Brownton and Stewart went their separate ways.
Glencoe-Silver Lake also is facing a fork in the road. After two failed attempts at a building bond in 2011, the GSL School Board is trying it a third time, but at a much higher cost. Three times a charm is one way to say it. Or three strikes, you’re out, is another.
If it fails again, GSL is faced with investing millions of dollars into the old Helen Baker Elementary School and still not gain an inch of new space which is so badly needed. More millions will be needed to address space needs at the high school as well.
The current plan to close Helen Baker and build an addition to Lincoln Junior High to house those elementary students is still a sound one.
While interest rates continue to remain at historic lows, bids, like those recently received by the county for its jail expansion, are coming in higher than expected. Contractors are not as hungry as they were in 2011 because of the improved economy.
There is no good time to ask for more property tax money. No one likes them, but taxes are a fact of life. Taxes get things accomplished, and most taxpayers are willing to pay for improvements if they can see the benefit, the tangible results. School buildings are tangible results of those tax dollars.
So what are the chances for the third run at passing a bond referendum?
Iffy, unless there is a lot more public enthusiasm favoring it.
The reality is, the district voters are evenly split, with a slight edge to no voters in the first two attempts. To change that outcome, several things need to happen: More Glencoe and Silver Lake yes votes need to be found, Brownton voters need to continue to be behind the bond and more younger voters with children in the school district need to show their support by going to the polls.
If younger voters with school-aged children are not supportive, why should parents and grandparents with no kids in school vote for it?
It is critical to get out the younger voters this time around. Golden opportunities do not come along that often, and second-guessing is a big waste of time.
I’m retired, on a fixed income, with no “skin in the game,” but I will support the new school bond referendum. How about you?
Rich Glennie was the editor of The Chronicle for 23 years. He retired Aug. 1, 2014, but still plans to submit an occasional column.