River Falls School District voters would support two referendum initiatives which are likely to appear on the ballot for the Feb. 20 spring primary election, the school board learned at its meeting Monday, Oct. 16.

A survey of district voters showed support for a referendum giving the district more funds to operate the district and also to spend $26-$30 million on capital projects.

Darin Sievers of Slinger-based School Perceptions surveyed district residents and found a high level of support and confidence in the work being done at the school district.

Sievers said the company’s survey work gauging community support for referenda has been 95 percent accurate in Wisconsin and 100 percent accurate in Minnesota.

“I really believe in our process,” he said.

The survey was mailed to district residents and distributed to staff in September. There were 1,995 total respondents, which came to a 19 percent response rate. Sievers said the survey data is accurate with at least 10 percent of surveys being returned, and that the survey has a 2.22 percent margin of error. Of the respondents, 23 percent were 65 or older, 13 percent were between 56-64, 23 percent were between 46-55, 31 percent were between 36-45, 9 percent were between 26-35 and 1 percent were between 18-25.

With nearly 60 percent of the surveys completed by people over 46, Sievers said that’s a good sign.

“They’re watching your project very closely,” he said. “They vote.”

Where respondents live was a fairly accurate snapshot of the district, Superintendent Jamie Benson said: City of River Falls 56 percent, Town of River Falls 13 percent, Town of Troy 11 percent, Town of Kinnikinic 8 percent, Town of Clifton 5 percent and other areas 7 percent.

Parents of students in River Falls schools made up 52 percent of the respondents, and 23 percent were school district staff members.

The survey asked residents how they like to receive information. Top three responses were the district newsletter, school websites and the Pierce County Journal.

Data shows that the River Falls School District ranks 333^rd of 421 districts in the state in the amount of money the district receives to spend per student. The state average is $16,124, while River Falls receives $14,808. The district is projecting a budget deficit “to grow to more than $3 million over the next three years,” the survey stated.

For the operating expense referendum, the school board intends to ask voters for $1 million in additional money next year, $2 million in the 2025-26 school year and $3 million after that on a recurring basis. That money would be used to retain current programs and services and staff and pay for increased operational costs.

The survey states, “In order to attract and retain high-quality staff, we need to remain competitive in our region for staff wages and benefits. Our compensation is below average for teachers and some support staff groups in our regional comparisons.”

The survey pointed out that if the operational referendum is approved, it would increase the district tax rate 5 cents next year, 6 cents the following year and 8 cents in 2026-27, stabilizing at that level.

The operational referendum had very strong support, with 65.75 percent of respondents saying they would support it. The “resident non-parent/non-staff” support was key, as 62 percent indicated “yes” or “probably yes” when asked if they would vote in favor.

On the facility side, respondents were surveyed on several different projects totaling $38 million. They weren’t in favor of all of them but were likely to approve several.

The proposed transportation maintenance plan and safety, security and buildings systems plans ranked the highest in the eyes of respondents. The transportation plan includes building a new maintenance shop with office area and restrooms at a cost of $3 million. That received a “yes” vote from 66 percent of respondents, while 18 percent weren’t sure.

The safety, security and building systems plan would include things like improving building security, improving air quality and energy efficiency, as well as upgrading generators, kitchen exhaust systems and restrooms at multiple buildings at a cost of $22.4 million. Support level for that came from 64 percent of respondents, with 19 percent not sure.

Other items on the survey included:

Multi-purpose indoor facility – It would be built at the high school for school and community use, including for wrestling practice. The cost was estimated at $4 million. It received a “yes” from 45 percent of respondents, while 17 percent weren’t sure.

School forest plan – A classroom, restroom and gravel access road was proposed to be built at the 70-acre school forest at a price of $ 1 million. Support for that came from 39 percent of the surveys, with 19 percent not sure.

Buying the Renaissance Academy building – The district currently leases its alternative high school building at a cost of $200,000 annually. Cost would be $3.6 million. Support for that was 35 percent with 26 not sure.

Stadium – Receiving the least support on the survey was a proposal to build a stadium at the high school artificial turf site for all outdoor sports at a cost of $4 million. The district plays its varsity football games at UW-River Falls currently at a rental cost of $2,500 per game. It received support from 37 percent but had the highest number of respondents saying “no”: 47 percent.

The survey reported that 61 percent of respondents would support a referendum for $26 million. At $30 million, that support dropped to 50.3 percent. Just 28.3 percent said they would vote to do all projects at a cost of $38 million.

Sievers said, “If held today the community would likely support the operational referendum. Also, if held today, the community would likely support $26 million and possibly $30 million in facility projects.”

He urged the board to pay close attention to the ranking of projects that voters would support.

“Listen to your data,” he said. “Be aware of the tax thresholds they’d support.”

The top two projects – transportation and safety – would total $25.4 million. Put the third-ranked project in – the multi-purpose facility, and the district would be asking for a total of $29.5 million.

“We’re dancing up against that $30 million threshold,” said Sievers.

With survey results in hand, the school board’s Project Oversight Committee was scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25 to look at what the next steps would be. Benson said the committee will make a recommendation to the board on what the district referendum projects should be. The board, then, must pass a resolution stating the questions by Dec. 12 to get them on the spring primary ballot.

“The next step will be for the POC meeting. That committee will convene probably only one more time and will be putting the $38 million under the microscope,” Benson said. “Maybe you can get to $30 million and pass it. Our goal will be to work within that range and identify the must haves with the nice to haves.”