Absentee ballots available for Byron school vote

Absentee ballots are now available to voters in the Byron School District for the May 11 bond election, according to Supt. Dr. Joey Page.
Eligible voters can receive an absentee ballot application by applying at the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website.
Completed ballots can be dropped off or mailed to the Byron School District Office, Attention Anne Ludvigsen, elections clerk, 630 1st Ave. NW, Byron, MN 55920.
Byron voters will be going to the polls to decide the fate of a two-question referendum that totals more than $40 million.
The first question on the ballot will be if the district should be authorized to issue general obligation bonds not to exceed $29.7 million to provide funds for improvements at Byron High School, including accessibility and safety; electrical, mechanical and building updates and replacements at the District Administration and Community Services building; the addition and equipping of classrooms at Byron High School; updates to Byron High School and Middle School athletic facilities; updates to kitchen facilities at the Middle School, Intermediate School and Administration and Community Services building and renovation of facilities for Community Education and Early Childhood Programs.
A second ballot question is for the approval of general obligation bonds for the Byron High School auditorium in an amount not to exceed $11,785,000. The money would include the addition and equipping of an auditorium and related facilities.
A bond referendum failed in the Byron district in May 2020. With the failure of the last vote, district officials went back to the drawing board to come up with a new plan.
The original referendum was for $57,122.213 million and had only one question.
The current referendum has moved the construction of a new 1,050 seat auditorium at Byron High School to a separate question.
Costs have also been cut by eliminating $313,300 in parking expansion at the District Offices, $1,181,517 for a new forum room and $9,306,764 for a gymnasium classroom at Byron High school and $1,000,000 cut from facilities in the transportation area.
Detailed information on the referendum questions and the tax impact are posted on the School district’s website, Page said.
The district has also been conducting a series of public information meetings.
The next meetings will be held from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m. in the DACS Board Room on April 6; 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room on April 8 and 7:30 to 8:15 a.m. in the Board Room on April 13.
There will be additional meetings on April 15, 26 and 29 and May 4, 6 and 10.
All voting on May 11 will be at the Byron Middle School, 601 4th St. NW, Byron. The voting will begin at 7 a.m. and continue until 8 p.m.