FOX 21 News, KQDS-DT

ESKO-Another set of Educational ballot questions will test the priorities of voters in the Esko area this November.

Last year voters overwhelmingly said no to a $6.7 million recreation/activities referendum, Girls Basketball Coach Scott Antonutti said.

This year it's back but on a smaller scale.

The new recreation/activities referendum would allot $2.7 million to make bleachers handicap–accessible, create an all–weather track, care for a grass field, and purchase a scoreboard and sound system (among other items).

"Some of that information i don't think people understand or get. To explain information that goes with all that information, it's hard for anybody to digest," Antonutti said.

That includes information on another academic referendum that asks for an additional $341 per student.

That money would go to keeping class sizes at current levels and bring back industrial technology classes, according to a referendum fact sheet put out by the Esko School District.

After last year's failed referendums, the school was forced to make $90,000 in cuts, Antonutti said.

"We currently rank 334th out of 335 districts statewide in regards to dollars per pupil that we bring in in revenue," Antonutti said.

The flip side of this issue is resistance to a property tax increase described as regressive because it is not based on income.

If both referendums pass, an owner of $150,000 assessed property would pay an additional $11 dollars in taxes each month, according to a fact sheet.

Supporters, however, say it is a necessity.

"The academics along with sports, team sports, develops a whole child versus just authorities or just academics," Len Robinson, father of two kids in the district and on the soccer team, said.