Get answers to frequently asked questions

Questions About The PRocess

  • For more than a decade, District 518 has worked hard to understand our facility needs, involved others to gather feedback, and prioritized building improvements that best meet our long-term needs across all district facilities.

    Our high school’s facility needs were identified and proposed to voters via a bond referendum in 2016, which was not approved. Since that time, we have remained committed to tackling these needs, some of which were addressed via a bond referendum in November 2019. However, the majority of our high school’s facility needs cannot be addressed without a voter-approved bond and these facility needs have been identified for several years. In addition, we have been able to address facility needs through additional projects, including the ALC and Gymnastics Facility, the ECFE Building, and Trojan Field to name a few.

    In November 2019, District 518 residents approved a $33 million bond referendum to build a new intermediate school, and we are grateful for our community’s support on that project. The majority of that plan addressed educational space needs for our younger learners, but similar educational needs and pressure for adequate space continue to exist at our high school as they have for several years. That referendum also provided funds to build a two-story classroom addition to the high school. As we look to the future, we are asking residents to consider a plan to continue to support our high school students well for decades to come.

    The district and our project team completed additional assessments, including a demographics analysis, and gathered feedback from other groups to fully understand our facility needs further. These needs were discussed, quantified, and prioritized, and several facility options were developed by our project team for the school board and administration to consider. Ultimately, the school board understood the need to balance our high school facility needs and a fiscally-responsible plan to district taxpayers. The school board feels confident that the proposed plan strikes that balance. Learn more about the process here.

  • After much consideration, school board work sessions, and gathering feedback, the school board decided to move forward with a plan that responsibly invests in the high school while minimizing the tax impact on district taxpayers.

    To do this, the district will utilize $11.5 million of the district’s assigned fund balance, $500,000 of the district’s existing food service fund, and $6 million of the district’s Long-Term Facilities Maintenance (LTFM) funding to complete these proposed building improvements. The remaining $15.3 million will be funded by a building bond referendum for voters to consider.

    If the referendum is approved, the district plans to invest a total of $33.8 million in key educational space and deferred maintenance improvements to the existing high school facility — $15.3 million funded through the building bond referendum and $18.5 million funded through other district funds. Ultimately, the school board’s commitment of these funds lowers the overall tax impact of the building bond referendum to district taxpayers.

  • The district has provided the MDE with all the required documentation for the referendum in the form of a “Review & Comment” submission. The MDE reviews all submitted information to ensure the project is both educationally and financially appropriate. Click here to view the Review & Comment on our Resources page.

  • Bond funds can only be used for construction including new construction, additions, and renovations. Operating levies are a legally separate funding source to support classrooms and educational programs. Both a bond referendum and an operating levy need to be approved by voters. A bond referendum is what is being proposed to local voters on Tuesday, August 13, 2024.

QUESTIONS ABOUT FACILITY CHALLENGES

  • As programming evolves, our high school faces space constraints to best support our students. The district is currently taking full advantage of several available facility alternatives to do this. However, some facilities have reached or exceeded their capacity.

    District 518 is asking residents to consider a bond referendum to improve Worthington High School to address 1) key educational space needs and 2) deferred maintenance needs.

    In short, 1) Worthington High School requires additional, reconfigured, and enhanced space to best support students and staff, and 2) Worthington High School requires key deferred maintenance improvements to best position the facility for the future. Learn more about our challenges here.

  • We need additional general classrooms and space to support Career and Technical Education (CTE). In addition, these spaces do not meet educational adequacy guidelines as recommended by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). We currently lack adequate science classrooms and lab space, and our current science labs require updates to best support our students and staff.

    Our kitchen and servery area were not originally built to serve the number of students we have today (over 1,200) for both breakfast and lunch, which limits functionality and takes additional time, requires additional safety items to serve students well, and lacks a functional work environment for staff. In addition, we lack adequate dining space to serve our students and there is no central student commons area.

    Our administrative offices are not connected to our secured vestibule, which impacts overall building security for our students and staff, and we need additional space to provide student services such as Special Education and mental health. As our district has grown, we have been forced to use alternative spaces that are, in some cases, not ideal to provide these services.

    The building’s circulation and overall layout are inefficient, which impacts students traveling between classes, and the east and west sides of the building are currently not connected on the second level.

  • The building lacks single-stall, accessible privacy restrooms. In addition, the metal panel and aluminum windows in the north classroom wing require replacement as the existing window systems have limited access to natural light. A part of the building since the 1970s, these systems require updates to improve heating and cooling efficiency.

    Various finishes require upgrades, including flooring, paint, and ceilings, and various built-in items require replacement, including doors, hardware, casework, and lockers. In addition, several existing sections of roofing are scheduled for replacement.

  • Yes. Over the last several years, our district and facility staff have done a great job keeping our facility maintained, and have been able to make improvements as dollars allow. However, several programmatic and facility needs extend beyond our annual maintenance budgets allocated from the State of Minnesota.

    Asking for voter-approved dollars is common across the state — more than 75% of Minnesota school districts have leveraged bond referendums to improve the conditions of their facilities. The physical needs of our school will continue to worsen the longer we wait to address them.

Questions About The Plan

  • On Tuesday, August 13, residents of District 518 will decide whether to invest $15.3 million to make key educational space and deferred maintenance improvements to Worthington High School. Residents will decide this with a single-question ballot.

  • The $15.3 million bond referendum will fund approximately 45% of the total proposed improvements outlined below. Click here to learn more about the plan.

    • Build a new two-story, eight-classroom addition to address capacity needs.

    • Renovate and reconfigure existing classroom space to support programming needs.

    • Renovate and expand the kitchen and servery area and reconfigure and expand the cooler/freezer/dry storage space.

    • Renovate the existing office and student services area into a student commons and dining area to address capacity needs, and connect the east and west sides of the building on the second level.

    • Relocate the administrative offices and student services area to the north main entrance of the building to improve overall building security and provide better access to specialists.

    • Renovate a portion of the media center to provide additional workspace for the district’s IT department to better support students and staff.

    • Improve several restrooms to be single-stall, accessible privacy restrooms.

    • Expand the equipment and storage area to support Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.

    • Address Long-Term Facilities Maintenance (LTFM) needs, including replacing the metal panel and aluminum windows in the north classroom wing, upgrade various finishes such as flooring, paint, and ceilings, replace built-in items such as doors, hardware, casework, and lockers, and replace several areas of the existing roof.

    • Complete fixtures, furnishings, equipment, and technology upgrades in renovated spaces.

  • Yes, conceptual drawings are available here. However, these are not finalized. If the referendum is approved, the design process would involve stakeholder input to ensure the design best responds to those that would use the facility.

  • State law does not permit different facility options to be presented to voters at the same time. This plan was deemed to represent the greatest value for the lowest cost after more than a year of planning and feedback from our community and stakeholders.

    The proposed plan was selected from several recommendations presented to the school board and aligns with feedback we’ve received from our community.

  • For the last 15 years, the school board and our administration have remained committed to following our district’s action plan that has been in place for the last 15 years, including how to best address our facility needs. The school board considered several factors when deciding when to propose a building bond referendum to district residents, and they take these decisions seriously as they understand how it impacts our community.

    It’s important to note that our high school’s facility needs were identified almost a decade prior to this decision. Ultimately, the school board is committed to addressing these needs that have been identified for many years, and they have done their best to address facility needs using other funding sources.

    An August referendum provides more favorable timing for design and construction schedules. If approved, an August timeline allows the district to break ground in the summer of 2024. In addition, it minimizes capitalized interest costs being at the end of a levy cycle.

  • Our high school’s facility needs aren’t going away. If the referendum fails, we will need to re-evaluate how to best address our facility needs, which could mean a combination of non-voter-approved financing and a voter-approved referendum or we may consider other facility options.

  • The proposed plan 1) properly reconfigures various spaces in the high school to best serve our students, staff, and community well, 2) provides additional space needed driven by building capacity limits and programming evolvements, 3) provides additional space to serve our students, including student dining and a commons area, 4) improves safety by moving the administrative offices near the secured vestibule, and 5) addresses several deferred maintenance needs.

Questions About Design and Construction

  • The project’s design and pre-construction phase would take place from August 2024 - May 2025, the bid/award phase would take place from May 2025 - June 2025, and the construction phase would take place from June 2025 - June 2027.

  • If the referendum passes, the district will begin the design process, led by the project architect. Community input is important during this process, and we will involve staff, administrators, community members, and students who will work collaboratively with the architect and project team throughout the design process. Input would be asked for and encouraged to ensure the design of the high school best represents the students, staff, and community who will use it.

  • Our project team includes ICS, PreK-12 planning and construction experts, and Baird, experienced funding and financial planners. Both firms have worked with our district for several years on previous successful projects.

Questions About the cost

  • If the referendum is approved, the district would invest $15.3 million into key facility improvements at the high school. This amount includes all issuance and financing costs.

    To fund additional improvements to the high school, the school board decided to use $11.5 million of the district’s assigned fund balance, $500,000 of the district’s food service fund, and $6 million of the district’s LTFM funding to complete additional proposed renovations. The proposed referendum would fund approximately 45% of the total proposed improvements for Worthington High School. Learn more about the plan here.

    If the referendum is approved, the district would invest a total of $33.8 million in key educational space and deferred maintenance improvements to the high school — $15.3 million funded through the building bond referendum and $18.5 million funded through other district funds. Ultimately, the school board’s commitment of these funds lowers the overall tax impact of the building bond referendum to district taxpayers.

  • If the single-question ballot is approved, the estimated tax impact on a $200,000 residential home in the district would be approximately $4.68 per month starting in FY2026. Click here to use our tax calculator and learn more about the cost here.

  • If approved, the bonds would be issued for a period of 20 years.

  • Created by the State of Minnesota in 2017, the Ag2School Tax Credit was implemented to reduce the property tax impact of school debt referendums for agricultural landowners. The 70% credit is applicable to all agricultural land with the exception of the home, garage, and one acre of land surrounding an agricultural homestead. This is not a tax deduction – it’s a dollar-for-dollar credit and is an automatic tax credit paid directly by the state with no application required. This credit would remain at 70% for the life of the bond.

    Ag2School credits would pay for approximately 33% of the referendum’s total debt service payments, equivalent to approximately $5 million. This state-funded credit reduces the contribution percentage for agricultural landowners to slightly less than residential landowners.

  • Each year, the school district levies a per pupil amount to use for Long-Term Facilities Maintenance (LTFM) improvements. Whether the district has an annual LTFM levy or a bonded LTFM levy, the total impact is spread equally across all district taxpayers.

    The district’s annual levy for LTFM improvements is capped at $380 per pupil and does NOT qualify for the Ag2School Tax Credit. The school board has decided to change this annual LTFM levy to a bonded LTFM levy, which DOES qualify for the 70% Ag2School Tax Credit funded by the state. Agricultural landowners will see a reduction in the school portion of their property taxes due to this change.

  • The district is working closely with ICS, a K-12 planning and construction firm, to ensure the project stays on budget. During the planning process, the district worked closely with Baird, the district’s financial advisor, to provide an external financial review and model several options to further understand what improvements our district could support.

    If approved, Dist ict518 will work with ICS to ensure the project remains on track using various tools including monthly updates, budget tracking, comprehensive project documentation, and more.

    In addition, once a referendum is approved by local voters, the budget is firmly set for construction and cannot be increased or overspent. If the single-question ballot is approved, the district would invest a total of $33.8 million ($15.3 million via a voter-approved bond referendum and $18.5 million via other board-approved funding sources) for key educational space and deferred maintenance improvements to Worthington High School. Learn more about the plan here.

Questions About Voting

  • There are three ways to vote on the upcoming bond referendum. Residents of District 518 can vote early/absentee either in person or by mail, or in person on Election Day at your respective polling location. Early/absentee voting, either in person or at home, is available through Monday, August 12. Election Day is Tuesday, August 13. Learn more about how to cast your vote here.

  • Early/absentee voting is now available through Monday, August 12. Residents may vote early/absentee in person by visiting the Nobles County Auditor/Treasurer’s Office, located at 315 Tenth Street, Worthington, MN 56187. Voters can cast their early/absentee ballot in person Monday to Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., except for holidays.

    In addition, district residents may vote early/absentee by mail in one of the following ways: 1) call the Nobles County Auditor/Treasurer’s Office from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at (507) 295-5258 or 2) complete an absentee ballot application and send it by mail to the Nobles County Auditor/Treasurer’s Office, located at 315 Tenth Street, Worthington, MN 56187.

    Please note that completed ballots by mail must be returned to the Nobles County Auditor/Treasurer’s Office by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day — Tuesday, August 13.

  • On Tuesday, August 13, polls will open at 7:00 a.m. for residents of the City of Worthington and the City of Rushmore, and polls will open at 10:00 a.m. for residents of Dewald Township and Summit Lake Township. All polls will close at 8:00 p.m. Residents will cast their vote at their respective polling location on Election Day. Click here to verify your polling location.

    • Residents of the City of Worthington Ward 1 – Precincts 1, 2, and 3: Lakeside Church (1000 Linda Lane, Worthington, MN 56187)

    • Residents of the City of Worthington Ward 1 – Precincts 4 and 5: American Reformed Church (1720 N. Burlington Ave., Worthington, MN 56187)

    • Residents of the City of Worthington Ward 2 – Precinct 1: YMCA (1501 Collegeway, Worthington, MN 56187)

    • Residents of the City of Worthington Ward 2 – Precincts 2 and 3: American Lutheran Church (915 Winifred St., Worthington, MN 56187)

    • Residents of the City of Worthington Ward 2 – Precincts 4 and 5: Solid Rock Assembly Church (1730 Diagonal Road, Worthington, MN 56187)

    • Residents of the City of Rushmore: Rushmore School (108 N. Drake Ave., Rushmore, MN 56168)

    • Residents of Dewald Township: Rushmore School (108 N. Drake Ave., Rushmore, MN 56168)

    • Residents of Summit Lake Township: Reading Community Center (26991 200th St., Reading, MN 56165)

  • In accordance with Minnesota Statutes 204B.46, residents who live in the City of Bigelow or the townships of Bigelow, Bloom, Elk, Graham Lakes, Hersey, Indian Lake, Larkin, Little Rock, Lorain, Olney, Ransom, Seward, Wilmont, and Worthington will vote by mail-in ballot.

    Ballots will be sent by non-forwardable mail to all registered voters in those precincts between Friday, June 28 and Tuesday, July 30. Using the instructions included, complete and return your ballot in the pre-addressed and pre-stamped envelope back to the Nobles County Auditor/Treasurer’s Office. Ballots can also be hand delivered to the secure drop box located at Door #1 of the County Government Center, located at the 10th Street entrance. The drop box is monitored by camera and available 24/7 until 8:00 p.m. on Election Day.

    All completed mail-in ballots must be received no later than 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 13. All ballots will be counted at 8:00 p.m. Learn more about mail-in balloting here.

  • Yes. Click here to register to vote or you can register to vote in-person on Election Day at your respective polling location. Click here to learn more.