Voters in the Mahtomedi School District will be asked this fall to approve a $28 million referendum to fund improvements that district officials say will benefit safety and security, academics, performing arts and athletics.
Among the proposed improvements are a new front entrance at Mahtomedi Middle School and other safety and security improvements.
Mahtomedi High School would get a “hallway circulation” remodel, choir and band classroom improvements, new mechanicals, a weight room addition and safety and security Improvements. Athletic Field 1 would get new turf and lights.
The referendum also would also pay for safety and security improvements to Wildwood and O.H. Anderson elementary schools and disability access and seating improvements at the Chautauqua Fine Arts Center, among other projects.
The school board voted unanimously last month to go out for the bond referendum. It is expected to be the first part of a multi-phase bond referendum process.
“It’s not easy because we have so many needs,” School Board Member Kelly Reagan said at the April 28 meeting. “Getting started somewhere is important. I have been from day one somebody who has felt like this should be something that impacts a lot of students and a lot of people in our community.”
The Mahtomedi Public School District serves approximately 3,176 students across its six schools.
School board member Ryan Domin said at the meeting the Mahtomedi community has been clear about what they would like to see done with facilities in the district.
“I’m supportive of this because this is part of a bigger vision,” Domin said. “If this was all we were focused on doing, I probably wouldn’t feel the same way, but we’ve really taken that community feedback, and I can see how we can align that back to our strategic plan.”
Addressing safety and security is key, he said, but so is addressing other “aging mechanical systems that, if we don’t address them now, could ultimately be far more costly down the line.”
Domin encouraged residents to contact school district officials with ideas to work on private partnerships.
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Superintendent Barb Duffrin said school district officials have been working since 2021 conducting research, meeting with stakeholders and reviewing options for the facilities improvement bond.
“The list of items that we’re going to, hopefully, address has been distilled from a very long list of needs,” said school board member Paul Donna. “Of course, we can’t do it all, but I think we’ve done a really good job of distilling down to what’s really needed today versus what we can look at and maybe wait for a couple of years and build partnerships and tackle those down the road.”
District officials will submit the proposal to the Minnesota Department of Education for review and prepare for a special election in November.
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