Jamie Benson

There are times in life when our individual and collective actions change the course of history. In the case of voter support for our two referendum questions, history will record this as a time of community investment in our children. Now that our community has supported both referendum questions, we embark on a future that will look bright for public education here in River Falls – thank you for the investment.

History will show that even among times of economic instability, national political/societal division, and even amid pockets of misleading local propaganda, our community made the choice to place the best interest of our schools, and the students we serve, above those political distractions. Thank you for understanding the truth and making an informed local decision while disallowing outsider political money misrepresent our local district financial facts.

Voters changed the arc of history to show an upward path of advancing school experiences for our students. You chose to not allow the failed state school funding formula to cause a downward trajectory of cuts to programs, staffing levels, services, and facilities. I am proud of, and deeply appreciative for, our community’s decision to invest in the quality of our students’ learning opportunities.

Let’s be honest, the referendum questions were a “big ask” not only in light of the political climate but also because of tax implications. The operational question passed by a significant margin while the facility question passed by a smaller margin. At the end of the day, the majority of voters supported both investments, which will improve educational conditions into the future.

The district will work hard to over-achieve on the promises made when explaining referendum details to the public prior to the vote. Moving forward, our district will continue to recognize the importance of being good stewards of public tax dollars while also attempting to over-deliver on your investment.

Our next steps will include:

• Working with architect (LHB) and construction management (Kraus-Anderson) firms detailing design specs, developing bid packages, and creating timelines for the construction process. Some work will be done this summer but the lion's share will be done in 2025.
• Safety/security facility improvements will be prioritized.
• Bond debt (facility loan repayment schedule) will be structured to minimize the tax impact. We hope to lock down our bond at lower than conservatively projected rates, which could slightly reduce the anticipated tax impact.
• The operational referendum passage will allow the district to remain competitive in attracting and retaining high quality professional staff; maintain advanced course offerings; maintain reasonable class sizes; help students and families secure mental health supports and resources; update curriculum and instructional resources; and uphold our current levels of co-curricular experiences for students.

Thank you again for your generous investment in our school system. What an amazing community!