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Online survey shows support for Marshall school referendum

Board members urged not to take results as true indication on how election will turn out

MARSHALL — Three days after early voting officially started on a $29.8 million school building referendum, Marshall Public Schools District board members received a positive report on the results of an online survey that was conducted in February.

Out of 625 people who completed the survey on gauging the community’s mood over the May 14 referendum election, 88 percent indicated that the district needs a plan to improve current school facilities, including safety and security improvements, replacing older classrooms and updating the buildings to meet today’s needs.

The survey also drew high percentage marks in disagreeing that the district shouldn’t waste time on another referendum. A total of 76 percent checked the disagree or disagree category.

Todd Rapp, owner and CEO of Rapp Strategies, delivered the survey report to the school board Monday. He said the survey suggests that the community doesn’t suffer from “referendum fatigue” like some communities in Minnesota. But he cautioned against betting election-day results on the 40-question survey.

“I have to tell you right now this is not a scientific sample,” Rapp said. “The difference between this kind of survey and a phone survey, a phone survey you work toward a sample that looks a lot like the demographics of the entire community. It simply just reflective of the people who took the survey. Although a lot of people did.”

Rapp said it’s difficult to predict a referendum election.

“You don’t know how many voters will show up. We don’t know what the different political influences that are out there. Don’t let this survey serve as your bet as to what’s going to happen. It helps inform you what people are thinking, but you still need to be out there communicating, listening to concerns, providing those answers, helping people understand the direction you are going.”

The referendum is a single-question ballot that includes:

• New second through fourth grade elementary school located on a 52-acre site near the existing Marshall Middle School.

• Three-classroom Early Childhood addition at Park Side Elementary, improvements to serve Park Side first grade students and removal of the existing portable classroom.

• Centralized Early Childhood programming at Park Side Elementary and providing additional space at Marshall Middle School

• Safety and security improvements at Park Side Elementary, the new elementary school, MATEC and Marshall High School

• West Side Elementary to be decommissioned, demolished, prepared for future development and sold

Some questions zeroed in on the single question ballot plan that mainly focuses on replacing West Side Elementary. In fact, one survey question asked about the quality of each building. While the high school and middle school drew large percentages, West Side drew negative numbers. Overall, the building recorded -63.

Another question asked: West Side is simply too old — it makes more sense to replace it than to continue to try to remodel and repair it. Seventy-seven precent agreed with that assessment.

The survey also asked: I am glad the school board came up with a less expensive plan than the spring 2017 referendum — it show they are listening to the community. A total of 82 percent agreed.

“I think the community was waiting for the right plan,” Rapp told the board members.

Referendum public meeting

Date: April 29 Time: 7 p.m.

Location: West Side Elementary gymnasium

Guided tours: Start at 6 p.m.

Open voting: Continues at the Marshall Public School District office at 401 South Saratoga until May 14 (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

— Source: Marshall Public Schools District

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