St. Michael-Albertville Education Leaders React to Vote

St. Michael-Albertville Superintendent Dr. Jim Behle knew, heading into Tuesday’s referendum, the vote would be tight.

He was surprised, all day, with the voter turnout. He was pleased, he said, when the numbers tipped in the school district’s favor, as 53 percent of the more than 3,900 ballots cast going in favor of the new operating levy.

“We [the leadership of the district] are grateful to live in a community that supports education even when economic times are challenging,” Behle said. “The school board and staff know that this increase in funding comes with it the responsibility to use the funds in the best ways to benefit students and to continue to look for ways to save money that can be reallocated to teaching and learning.”

One of the ways the money will be spent, as the community has been told, is to update technology at , which is more than six years old.

Lee Brown, principal at Big Woods, said the computers here are the same age as the school building (eight years). Still, the school is going to work with district staff and technology leaders to use the new money, approximately $300,000, wisely.

“The investment in technology will be done in the most economical way,” Brown said. “Members of the community have shared ideas how we might do this via virtual desktops, allowing us to utilize our computers for longer periods of time.” That is something the district and the building will look into, she said.

l Board President Doug Birk said the board was very analytical before approving the request for a levy vote, and will continue to scrutinize each budget item related to this levy.

“It was very, very hard for the board to ask for a levy at this time, understanding the economics of the situation, and for voters to support us,” Birk said. “In spite of all those challenges, I think really shows confidence in the school district. I think it’s going to permit us to maintain and continue a level of excellence that I think we’re all very proud of.”

One last thing Birk touched on was voter turnout, and participation, community-wide, in the discussion surrounding this year’s levy request.

That carried into Tuesday, with voter  turnout being much higher than normal, at 3,927 votes cast compared with about 1,500 seven years ago, Birk said the district fared very well in St. Michael overall, and especially in certain parts of the city, and they didn’t get as much support from Albertville voters.

“That has been traditional on all of our levy votes over the years,” he said. “Overall, I feel extremely grateful.”

Behle said he knows the public will be watching.

“We are committed to using the money the community has entrusted to us in the ways intended, and will do so in a way the gets the most for the investment,” he said.