Tuesday, April 11 was a normal day in Winona for some, but a remarkably important for others. The Winona Area Public Schools (WAPS) school board and various community members, after two years of planning and developing, organized a referendum regarding building issues and plans of action.

A Community Task Force that included both district staff members and community members met 10 times over the course of four months, toured each of the district’s six buildings and vetted 12 different options before reaching a consensus that became their plan, which was approved by the school board in the summer of 2022.

One of the main issues and calls for the referendum was the age of the elementary buildings in the area. The Jefferson Elementary and Washington-Kosciusko Elementary buildings hold many students who emerge from a lower socio-economic environment and these buildings’ structure remain much the same as when they were built in the 1930s.

Jim Schul, a member of the WAPS board and a professor in the education department at Winona State University (WSU), commented on the lack of quality of these buildings for the students.

“The buildings lack full accessibility for students with disabilities, they have archaic classroom spaces, some classes meet in basements without windows, and the air circulation is below optimal,” Schul said. “This referendum will modernize those buildings for our children.”

Instead of reconstruction, which Schul and the board members believe would be extremely costly, they advocate for remodeling of the current buildings.

Joliene Olson, an election judge of 10 years and Winona citizen, spoke about her hopes and beliefs regarding the referendum.

“I hope it passes,” Olson said. “We need to support our children.”

Olson was also a member of the school board and preaches the same values today as she had then.

“I spent 18 years on the school board back in the 1980s and I always focus on what the kids need,” Olson said. “I believe that should be supported.”

Schul mentioned that the remodeling will offer accommodations for the high school.

“Additionally, it will create an equitable locker room configuration at the high school that finally treats our female students with the dignity they deserve,” Schul said. “It will modernize the career technology learning space to help immediately prepare our community’s workforce and to open community partnerships, and it will provide an additional gymnasium that fills a glaring void for our entire community’s athletic programming needs.”

In terms of how the referendum came about, Schul said that the timing was just right.

“The thing that prompted the referendum is that our bond levy on the middle school was nearing its end, freeing up some flexibility for taxpayers,” Schul said. “We had pressing needs across the district, particularly the oldest elementary buildings.”

Schul mentioned that the board was completely community driven and guided them through the process.

“This approach consisted of relying heavily on a community task force to direct our plans as well as hiring a professional research firm to scientifically survey our community,” Schul said. “Combining the compatible results of these two outlets where we gathered the collective voice, our deliberations took careful aim at what the community would support considering recent inflationary hikes in the construction market.”

The result was the referendum and voting that took place on Tuesday, April 11.

The two-question referendum asked citizens of Winona if they were willing to pay more in taxes to advocate for this remodeling. The first question aimed to revitalize all elementary schools, improve learning spaces and provide robust career exploration opportunities. The second question aimed to improve athletic and fine arts spaces.

Olson touched on the how she feels regarding the public school system and its benefits.

“The public school system is extremely important for the continuation of our democracy,” Olson said. “If we don’t educate the children and people, then we are going to be losing the battle.”

Schul addressed that though he is proud of his position in the community, he wants action to be taken.

“On the first front, I am very proud of our district’s success,” Schul said, “But the problem with the state of our buildings is significant and should not be delayed any longer.”

When asked to sum up her thoughts on the referendum, Olson had four words, “The kids come first.”

After Tuesday, voters in WAPS defeated the referendum. Question 1 was defeated with 2, 380 (65.6%) no votes to 1, 250 (34.4%) yes votes. Question 2 was defeated with 2, 378 (66%) no votes to 1,227 (34%) yes votes. WAPS school board chair, Nancy Denzer, expressed her disappointment with the outcome.

“We are disappointed that the majority of those who voted in this election didn’t share our same vision to invest in our students by improving our spaces,” Denzer said. “We remain committed to solving our long-term facilities issues. Our needs are real, and they are not going away.”