DGF Divided on School Bond Vote

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The Dilworth, Glyndon and Felton communities are divided over a referendum.

A more than $31 million school bond vote is on the table.

Amanda Sosa is a member of the vote yes group called Developing Great Futures. 

“It’s an issue that has to be addressed sooner than later,” says Sosa.

She has two kids in the DGF school district that are dealing with a space crunch. She recently moved to Dilworth from Moorhead so her kids are open enrolled.

“My son, he was having lunch at 10:45 in the morning. They did get a snack in the afternoon but by the time that they came home after school he was starving,” Sosa says.

If Sosa and her colleagues have their way, the proposed $31 million school bond vote will go towards adding an early childhood center and expanding classroom spaces.

“We know that we’re planning to have 1,900 students by 2019 or 2020. We’re already reaching capacity,” says Superintendent Bryan Thygeson.

But not everyone is in support of the proposed plan. Several signs like this are posted around DGF neighborhoods, saying we support our school, not this plan.

If passed, the referendum will also add enhanced building security and a safe drop off/pick up zone.

“Anybody who comes and picks up the kids and drops them off at 8 o’clock or picks them up at 3 o’clock, a lot of people are double parked and such,” says Thygeson.

But all of this comes with a price tag. If the measure passes, the average home owner would see a school property tax hike of just under $300 per year. The tax on farmland is anywhere from $6 to $11 an acre.

“There’s the open enrollment issue because the open enrollment families can’t be levied. And so we know that the only people that can pay the levy portion would be resident population,” says Thygeson.

Whether voting yes or no, the superintendent wants to make sure that every decision is based on what’s best for the students.

“Complaints we will hear from the kids from the staff members is ‘It’s getting crowded.'”

KVRR did contact the vote no group but didn’t’ get a response,” Thygeson says.

The school district will hold its next informational meeting Wednesday night at 7 at Dilworth Elementary.