Disappointed

District 88 officials face questions

By GUY PRIEL

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- In the aftermath of a referendum failure that shook the foundations of District 88, officials and board members spent the day on Wednesday asking questions and pondering choices.

The board will canvass the election results during today's board meeting at 7 p.m., when other options will be discussed.

Following a recount of votes on Tuesday, there were 3,656 no votes, or about 63 percent of those voting; and 2,154 yes votes, or about 37 percent of those voting. Of that amount, 491 of the votes were cast in person at Vogel Arena Tuesday. The number of people voting represents approximately 51 percent of the registered voters in District 88.

"The people have decided, that is part of the democratic process," Superintendent Harold Remme said. "We are now charged to provide the best education we can with what funding we have available to us."

The referendum did manage to increase voter turnout and gave the district a firm direction for next year, which were two of the main goals behind having the referendum, Remme said.

In 1997, when another referendum vote was taken, there were 3,155 votes cast, with approximately the same amount of yes votes. State officials indicate that there is usually an increase in yes votes with a mail ballot, but that was not the case here, he said.

"We hoped we'd have more revenue for next year, but we won't," he said. "This clearly tells us that we should continue to look at further reductions for the fall of 2000. We need to seize every opportunity available to us to make reductions before school starts next year."

Remme will make the recommendation to the school board tonight to look for further cuts. The cuts might include additional staff, but it will be difficult to find large dollar amounts, he said.

"Even with further cuts, there is no way the budget will balance," he said. "Anything we do we will be looking at larger class sizes, a delay in building modifications and improvements, or a reduction in services."

Despite the failure, Remme is glad the district went through the referendum process, because it provided the community with an opportunity to preserve the existing system.

"There is a perception that we were using busing as leverage to pass the referendum, but that was simply not the case," he said. "We looked at busing because we didn't want to impact the classroom too much and that had the less impact, but the next wave of cuts will impact classrooms."

"One thing is certain, the district will look different in two years," he said. "It will look different in how services are provided and what will be provided. Many people will be surprised at how it will eventually look."

"I am very disappointed with the results," school board member Susan Ullery said. "I am concerned about the message this sends about how the community feels about our dedication youth. It is difficult when we have to face more cuts, because it will have an impact on how we deliver education."

The failure of the referendum is not a reflection on staff and students and the district will pull through with limited resources, but effects will be felt, she said.

"I was appalled when I heard that voters thought we were using busing as a ploy," she said. "It was not given any more attention than other matters, and the board didn't make it a big issue. But, I guarantee, there will be no busing, fewer teachers, less music, and less phy ed next year, because we have no money."

Busing will seem like nothing once other cuts start taking place, because everything will be touched at that point, Ullery said.

"I am surprised and disappointed at this," School Board President Mark Wiger said. "We did our best to communicate the situation, and I was not aware of any prevalent themes that would have prevented this from passing. We were completely prepared for it to pass, because initial survey results were fairly positive."

The referendum failure may not have anything at all to do with District 88, so much as it has to do with taxes and finances in general, or a disillusion with public education in general, Wiger said.

"We are in a high labor market and need to stay competitive, so we will do what we need to do," Wiger said. "We have been successful at preserving the education level we thought our constituents wanted, but we will have to start the disassembling process."

It is difficult to quantify the specifics of the overall impact of the failure, he said.

"Now who will pay the price?" He asked. "Our (children) will pay and we will see some pain. It is too premature at this time to decide how we can move forward."

The failure may indicate that there is a general mood in New Ulm that there is a resistance to spend taxes to help the greater community, Wiger said.

"It will not be easy to disassemble the system, and $1.5 million in additional cuts will weigh heavy, but we have to be committed to stick together and ease the pain," Wiger said.