Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What happens if the referendum is approved?
A: The Board of Education would issue $32.6 million in general obligation bonds to pay for renovation, construction and upgrades to the existing school site.
Q: What happens if the referendum is not approved?
A: Our facilities challenges would not go away - we would still have inadequate instructional spaces, gymnasium, music, and performing arts facilities, and safety issues in the parking lot and with entryways.
To address our facilities needs, we would consider leasing alternative spaces in town, future costs we do not control if it is off of our property.
Paying annually with smaller projects to address these concerns will increase taxes on our homeowners and small businesses disproportionately because it will spread across a much smaller tax base.
We may be forced to cap enrollment, but that means potential cuts to current programming and slowing community growth, including a disincentive to families buying homes in the community.
Q: What space needs does the school have?
A: Gym, auditorium, and Career and Technical Education spaces are the most critical needs at this time.
Career and Technical Education: We have two career and technical education (CTE) teachers, but only one lab space. This severely limits the ability to provide the hands-on learning opportunities that this instruction is meant to provide. CTE exposes students to a wide variety of career opportunities and helps them develop skills that are in high demand, giving them a competitive edge in the job market. CTE programs also help students develop soft skills like critical thinking, communication, and teamwork. Students have growing interest in the program – one class recently won a regional award for the Best Agriculture Program. The District has a business teacher that has started an apparel printing and designing shop within one of her classes and has 3 heat presses and would potentially add more equipment if the space existed. This has allowed the district to provide apparel for many local community businesses, serving a local need while students learn how to run a business. They would like to expand this concept to other forms of entrepreneurship that will ultimately lead to the next generation of business owners in the community.
Gymnasiums: There are three issues with gym space. 1) Security/accessibility - the current competition gymnasium is in the middle of the school. Anyone attending an event in the gym has free access to anywhere in the building - we’re unable to cordon off hallways because parking for events occurs all around the building, meaning visitors are accessing the building through multiple entrances and using all of the hallways to get to the gym. 2) Limited space for physical education classes. During the day, the main gym is divided into two instructional spaces. As elementary enrollment has grown, the elementary gym is too small to accommodate a larger number of students, so it limits the number of students that can be in a gym class at the same time, which limits the amount of time students can receive physical education instruction. The small gym by the auditorium provides some space, but it is too small for some physical education activities, and is far from the rest of the classrooms, cutting into instruction time. 3) Proposed renovation would eliminate the small gym by the auditorium, reducing the amount of phy ed classroom space.
Auditorium: The existing 80-year-old auditorium is very outdated and has multiple handicap accessibility issues. The seating capacity is less than 500. Many events have attendees standing in aisles and side spaces. The space has been adapted to work as well as possible, but site lines are poor, backstage storage for theater and events is limited, and performers are so close to the stage that some can only be seen from the front row. Sound, lighting, and acoustics are outdated, and the seats are small and uncomfortable.
Q: Are the gym and auditorium really instructional spaces?
A: Yes. Physical Education is an important part of students’ curriculum in all grades. The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) requires physical education in all grades K-8, and high schoolers must receive instruction in physical education at least once. Research links physical activity to academic achievement and overall well-being.
The auditorium is used throughout the school day for rehearsals, concerts, plays, programs and much more.
Q: If education space is becoming an issue, shouldn’t we put a cap on open enrollment?
A: Osakis is well-known in our region for its academic excellence. We bring in more students through open-enrollment than open-enroll out of our school. There are a number of benefits to encouraging open-enrollment into our schools.
Financial benefits: For each student enrolled in our schools, we receive funding from the state of Minnesota. The more students we have on our rolls, the more we receive from the state.
Student benefits: Additional students in our classrooms provide “critical mass” to support funding teachers who provide a more robust offering of classes for our students. We simply could not afford to provide the array of electives at the secondary school level without this additional revenue.
Community benefits: Families from outside of Osakis who have students enrolled in our school are more likely to visit our community and take advantage of our local businesses.
Taxpayer benefits: Osakis, unlike most other Minnesota school districts, does not have an operating levy, due in large part to the additional revenue that comes with students that are open-enrolled into the district.
While there are many benefits to students open-enrolling into Osakis schools, space is a major constraint. It is possible that open-enrollment could be capped in the future.
Did the Osakis schools tax rate decrease for 2025 property taxes?
Yes, the tax rate for Osakis schools is estimated to decrease by more than 7% in 2025, however market values are expected to increase. This rate decline does not necessarily mean homeowners taxes will go down, however. If property values stay the same, all property tax payers will see a slight decrease in property taxes. It’s more likely that property values will increase. If they increase by the forecasted 3%, residential school property taxes will go up by less than 3% except on properties valued at $500,000 or more. Seasonal recreational property and agricultural property will likely still see a slight decrease in school property taxes. See the chart below for residential school property tax changes for some sample properties where their value increases by 0%, 3% and 6%.
Q: I hear you saying that you're nearing capacity at the elementary level, what are your elementary space needs?
The greatest needs are for more space for special education, hands-on learning spaces, music, art, and early childhood.
Special education: The incidence of students with special needs is growing. When our school was built, students with special needs did not attend school. Federal law has now required us to provide special education for 50 years.
Hands-on learning spaces: Hands-on learning spaces, or “maker space”, is a relatively new, but extremely valuable education learning environment that is used all-day, every-day by elementary classes working on group projects using special equipment such as electronics, robots, and more. We use a STEAM approach (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) that exposes students to concepts that are continued in the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program at the secondary level. We have carved out some hands-on learning spaces in media center, but the space is open, meaning noise from the classes is disruptive for others using the media center. We plan to reconfigure the media center space to enclose hands-on learning spaces. Smaller spaces would also be enclosed to allow individual students to take online elective classes from teachers outside of the district, and small-group space to enhance project learning with technology like video and audio recording.
Music, art: The current space is too small, so it limits the number of students that can be in a music class at the same time, which limits the amount of time students can receive music instruction. The same is true for art classes.
Early childhood education: The current early childhood program is at capacity, offering a half-day program to Osakis families, without space for expansion in enrollment or in the length of time students can be served. Many school districts provide all-day, every-day fee based early childhood programming. The benefits include, more robust instructional opportunities for students at a time when their window for learning capacity is wide open, building a familiarity with the school and staff to ease the transition to kindergarten, and providing one-stop child care opportunities to families.
Q:Where will new parking go and how will it benefit safety and security?
New parking spaces will be added on the southwest corner of the school, adjacent to the auditorium and gymnasium. The new parking lot configuration will allow students to be more safely dropped off and picked up inside the parking lot in designated lanes, instead of getting out of vehicles on busy 1st Avenue, as some do now. In addition, it will be much easier for community members to attend school events with easy access from the parking lots to the gymnasium and auditorium. Currently, community members need to enter classroom areas to reach these facilities, a security issue when events are held during school hours. The parking area will also allow for more efficient and safer parking for community members with disabilities who now may be required to park on neighborhood streets for a long walk to school entrances.
Q: What, exactly, does the ballot ask?
“Shall the school board of Independent School District No. 213 (Osakis Public Schools) be authorized to issue its general obligation school building bonds in an amount not to exceed $32,600,000 to provide funds for the acquisition and betterment of school sites and facilities, including the construction of secure entrances; renovations and upgrades to the career and technical education classrooms and lab; the construction and equipping of a new auditorium, band room, two-court event gymnasium and walking track; the decommissioning of the existing auditorium and gymnasium; and the construction of parking lot expansions and improvements?”
Q: What, in detail, would the facility changes entail?
Old bus facility has been demolished and a new bus facility was constructed off site in 2020, to create space for a large parking area and drop off that would be adjacent to the activities entrance.
Add one CTE shop, one CTE classroom, and space for shop materials, tools, and student projects.
Demolish existing 80-year-old auditorium and construct a new auditorium with a capacity of 600 seats.
Remodel existing band room to create a special education area that is properly sized and located.
Remodel the existing elementary music space for the expansion of the business department. The existing music space is currently located in the secondary area of the school and is adjacent to the industrial arts lab.
Construct new space for the secondary instrument program. New space to be adjacent to the new auditorium.
Construct a new, two court gymnasium. Space to be large enough to include a fitness walking track and spectator seating.
Construct new locker rooms for women and men. An existing locker room will become a multi-use facility for visiting teams and overflow teams during certain seasons of the year.
Construct a new 2800-square-foot weight room. This room would also include fitness equipment.
The fitness track and weight room will have hours set aside for community use. Similar to the open times for the existing gyms.
Construct a new 40’ by 80’ wrestling room to accommodate two regulation mats.
Q: Will the remaining green space around the school be adequate for school programs?
Yes. In 2021-2022 we purchased 8.5 acres of land to the south of our school. Part of that land was used for our Tennis Court expansion, but we did retain a large amount of greenspace and have graded it to be used for a variety of purposes. The location of that greenspace would be a short walk from the school with a sidewalk leading to it, all on school property and approximately 90 yards from our existing greenspace. Our new green space is 2.3 acres, and it would take 1.6 acres to expand our parking lot, which would leave us ahead in the amount of greenspace we have available. Our playground area (and 0.5 acre of greenspace next to it) will remain untouched. Additionally, we would add an improved playground for our early childhood and younger grades in the courtyard on the East Side of the school, making that greenspace usable for recess, before, and after school.
Q: How old are Osakis’ existing school facilities?
Original building: 1940
Cafeteria addition: 1958
Classroom addition: 1978
Gym/Media Center/Classrooms/Boiler: 1991
Gym/Mechanical addition: 2005
Classroom addition: 2009
Q: What is the difference between a bond and an operating levy?
Bond levies are for funds that the school district uses for new construction, updates to existing facilities, and other additions to school properties. Each fund remains separate and cannot be used for another purpose.
Operating referendums are an election asking voters to provide funds that the district uses to operate its schools. An operating levy is for running educational programs and goes to the district’s general fund to support students
Q: May I deduct the taxes paid on my State and Federal Income Taxes?
A: If you itemize deductions for federal income taxes, you may deduct all property taxes paid.
Q: Does farm property receive some tax relief?
A: Yes, for decades, farm families paid school operating levies on 1 acre of property that included the house, but paid school bond levies on all property. In 2017, the Minnesota Legislature approved a 40 percent tax credit for farm land school bond taxes. In 2019, the legislature approved higher tax credits to be phased in over time:
50 percent in 2020
55 percent in 2021
60 percent in 2022, and
70 percent in 2023 and after
Q: How do schools impact the community?
A: According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, there is a definite correlation between school expenditures and home values in any given neighborhood. A report titled, “Using Market Valuation to Assess Public School Spending,” found that for every dollar spent on public schools in a community, home values increased $20. These findings indicate that additional school expenditures may benefit everyone in the community, whether or not those residents actually have children in the local public school system.
Q: What is the timeline if voters approve the referendum?
A: Proposed schedule:
Referendum: April 8, 2025
Design and construction documents: April through October 2025
Bidding: November/December 2025
Construction: April 2026 through July 2027
Occupancy: August 2027
Q: What is the bond payment schedule?
A: If voters approve the referendum, the school district will issue two series of bonds, both with a term of 25 years. The first series will be issued in August 2025 with a final payment in February 2051; the second will be issued in August 2026 with a final payment in February of 2051.
Q: I don't have kids in school. Why should I care about this?
A: Strong schools help support a strong and vibrant community. Local community and business leaders are active on our task force and will help guide future decisions.
Q: Is our enrollment declining?
A: No. According to District demographic information, Osakis enrollment is projected to slightly decrease the next couple of years as large classes have graduated out, but then start steady growth driven by young families in the area. Open enrollment pressure continues to influence growth, as Osakis Pubic School’s proximity to neighboring districts is convenient, and Osakis Public School is at a size advantage with smaller classroom sizes.
Q: How and where can I vote on the referendum?
A: Minnesota offers three ways to vote - early in person, by mail, or on election day.
You can vote early in-person between from February 21 through April 7, with an absentee ballot at the District Office, 500 East 1st Avenue, Osakis MN 56360. If you are not registered, you can do so in person if you show proof of residence.
To vote by mail, apply to have an absentee ballot mailed to you. You do not need to be registered to apply. Visit the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office website for instructions and a downloadable application. Allow plenty of time for mailing, as your returned ballot must be received by Election Day.
To vote on Election Day, Tuesday, April 8, you must go to your assigned polling place between 7 am and 8 pm. The Combined Polling Place is the Ed Pollard Community Center. You can locate your polling location via the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office website or call 1-877-600-VOTE (8683). If you need to register to vote on Election Day, you’ll have to bring some things with you. This flier explains.