Duluth Public Schools Look to a Future Without Special Levy Money

Voters said "no" to referendum--round two.

Voters said ‘no’ to a tax increase, and now the Duluth Public School system will be looking at what to cut and how much.

This follows Tuesday’s referendum, which failed by an unofficial tally of about 450 votes–5,007 to 5,460.

Superintendent John Magas said the results were disappointing, but that he appreciated all the hard-work and support from citizens, parents and staff.

He said even if the referendum had passed, the district is looking at needing to cut $6 to $7 million over the next two years.

But he thinks opponents were tired of inflation, increasing property values, and taxes from various levels of government.

“We understand that there are tight financial times, and we understand that taxes are high. I think that was part of it. But we also had a lot of support, too. It was very close, 48 percent to 52 percent. So, I think there are a lot of people working with the schools to support the schools,” Magas said.

“But I think it’s also important to recognize that Duluth is not supporting technology at this time through a referendum. So, we’re really going to have to take stock of where we are and think about how do we do our best to continue to meet student needs without the resources we were hoping for? And we’ll be taking time over the next few weeks to really reflect and make some decisions on budget reduction and reallocation,” Magas said.

Magas said he thinks opponent misinformation also played a role–including rumors the school board could automatically renew the levy, or that the money could be spent without restrictions.

He said among the cuts being considered are things like moving away from having a device for every student. He said the special COVID money that made many such things possible has come to an end.