Students, parents, community members make last push for Triton yes vote Tuesday

For the last three years concerned parents, community members, school personnel and even students have worked hard for encouraging voters in the Triton School District to vote yes on a operating levy.
After a group of parents talking about a way to come up with innovative ways to encourage people to vote yes, a concerned parent Keri Ginder, officially made a Facebook Group called “Citizens For Triton” a group where like minded community members can talk about positive ways to get the referendum to pass this year, instead of focusing on being negative.
“There is a lot of negativity about the referendum and we really want to create positive messages about the referendum instead,” Ginder said.  
One of the ways that the group came up with to help with getting the vote to pass is by having students come out door knocking to encourage voters to vote yes on Tuesday.
On Friday, after their musical practice students were approached by Ginder about helping with door knocking on the upcoming days before the election.
Many of them said yes.
One of the main reasons why they are so passionate about the referendum being passed they explained is because they have seen the negative effects of having limited funding and the cuts that have been made to their favorite programs.
One of the biggest cuts that the entire group agreed on was the cut made a few years ago which eliminated their second band teacher and leaving students in grades 6-12 with just one band teacher.
This combined with the school only having one choir teacher for all the grades makes it difficult at times for musical students.
Another potential cut that they noted could come from one of their favorite activities and that would be the school musical.
“Last time it didn’t pass there  was a real threat that they would cut the musical and for a lot of kids they wouldn’t have an activity that they really like to do,” said  Connor Kleinwort, a Triton student.
Because of these cuts and the threat of more cuts being made without the referendum being passed many students from Triton, in grades 1-12, have been seen walking the towns in the district, door knocking and talking to voters about why they should vote yes on Tuesday.
The students message is simple, helping to support the school means you are also helping to support the community.
“Helping out the school also helps out the community,” said Morgan Pluto, a Triton student.
Members of the “Citizens for Triton” group is also very excited that they have the support of the students during the push to have the referendum passed.
“It’s amazing to see the kids out here helping with door knocking you don’t see it often,” said Ginder.
 
Grass roots model
Like many elections the referendum votes limits the people who are allowed to actively campaign for the vote to pass.
For example in this case that means that school personnel and school board members are prohibited from door knocking, working phone banks, or playing an active role with campaigning.
One of the biggest points made by those campaigning for the yes vote is that students in the Triton district deserve the same quality school and education as neighboring schools, something that won’t likely happen going forward with limited funds and more cuts.
“We need to give our kids the same opportunity our surrounding schools have they deserve it,” said Chris Pluto, one of the citizens that wants the best for the children in the district and the next generation.
While door knocking they have also worked hard to encourage people to vote for the future of the school and not make their decisions based on negativity they have had about the district in the past.
“It should be about the future of the school district,” said  Rhylan Peterson, a student at Triton, who has worked the last few days door knocking.
 
Third time the charm?
While often times people would be discouraged to work hard on getting a referendum passed after two straight failed attempts that is not the case for many people who are working hard on having the yes vote passed.
These concerned citizens feel like this is the right time to get the referendum passed after coming up just a few votes short last year.
In fact this time around concerned citizens feel that they have more support for the referendum than ever before and there's more positivity about it.
“We have a lot of community support for the referendum that we didn’t have before,” said Ginder.
The main reason for this can be contributed to re working the approach on the referendum message and making sure people are more informed that is happening and how it works.
One of the things that door knockers have been working on is reaching out to members of the farming  community who may been mislead in the past about the operational levy and how it works.
Unlike a building bond referendum where property tax on AG land would go up that is not the case with an operational levy, where only the homestead is taxed instead of the AG property, something that saves farmers a substantial amount of money compared to if they were going for a building bond referendum.
Another way that this referendum is different than in years past is because voters have the opportunity to vote on three separate questions rather than only being able to vote on one.
At the end of the day the support for the referendum comes down to one thing.
Being able to increase necessary funding for the school so future generations of students can have the best education possible.
“It’s a nice school  and I want to see it stay that way,” said  Isaiah Freyholtz, a student at Triton.
 
About the Referendum - The following article was printed in the Oct. 10 DCI
 
Last year when the Triton School District Referendum votes were counted they came up just twenty-five votes short.
This fall after revamping the ballot questions the school district hopes that the votes will be in their favor this time around.
One of the main reasons why the school district has been pushing for a referendum for the last three years is due to the lack of funding from the state for small schools like Triton.
According to Superintendent Bret Joyce the state contribution of 2 percent is less than inflation of around 3 percent which means every year they will be forced to make more and more cuts unless they pass a referendum.
On Election Day voters in the district will have the chance to vote on three separate questions.
The first question on the ballot will be a vote to support $500 per student, which would generate new revenue to help with increasing costs of operating the schools, transportation, busing and maintaining our excellent class sizes. This Must pass for questions 2 or 3 to pass.
Question number to is where voters will be asked to approve a $150 per student, which would generate revenue for curriculum, instruction and new technology for all of our students. This revenue funds reading, math, and science curriculum for preK through 12 grade students.
Question 3 is for voters to approve $100 per student to support the fine arts. This means vocal and instrumental music programs as well as theatre for our schools.
One of the key points made by the school district when it comes to the levy increase is that for someone who owns the average valued home in the district they would only have to pay less than $1 per day if all three questions are passed.
For example an average valued home in the district is $125,000 and the tax impact if all three questions are answered yes would equal $217.
Another important statistic pointed out by the school district leaders is that currently Triton ranks 312 out of 330 schools for total general fund revenue.
According to a handout provided, Triton currently sits around the same or less than neighboring school districts with similar size student totals.
They also sit significantly below the state average of $1357 with a total 2018-2019 $724.
If all of the questions are answered yes their total will increase to $1474.
While this total may be above the state average it was pointed out that every year the state average increases so even with the increases Triton may find themselves at around the state average or possibly less still.
If the referendum does pass in its entirety the board may also choice not to levy for that amount every year.
For example if all three questions are passed then the board may choice to levy up to $1474 but they can also choice to levy for a lesser amount depending on the wishes of the board after calculating factors like state aid, financial health and other important factors.
While the school district maintains the recommended 10% operating cost as a fund balance the district knows that they will have to continue to make cuts that will have a direct impact on their students as they have had to do in the past few years.
 
What is a Operating Levy
A local tax that district residents approve to help support student programs, opportunities, and services in their local districts. These dollars are used to maintain or enhance the quality of existing educational instructional programs and services.
As part of the referendum process community members in the district will have a chance to attend different public members to hear presentations and ask any questions they may have for district leaders.
Those meetings are scheduled for the following:
Voters will have a chance to vote yes or no on the different questions on Election Day this year.
For those with questions about the referendum can either attend one of the three public meetings being held or contact the hotline 507-428-7530, or via email levy2018@triton.k12.mn.us.