Moorhead School District Hoping You’ll Make Your Voice Heard at the Polls

The Moorhead School District is on the ballot this November.

This year’s Operating Levy Renewal is aiming to maintain fully funded education in the Moorhead public school district.
 
“We are a growing school district,” said Dr. Lynn Kovash, who is Superintendent of Moorhead Area Public Schools. “There’s added expenses, things go up every year, heat, electricity, all of those things that you need to operate schools. Plus, because of our growing school district, we’ve had to add buildings. You need the funding to keep those.”
 
If approved, people of Moorhead will continue to pay $223.60 for the next 10 years.
 
“A levy is for learning,” said Dr. Kovash. “It’s for all the operations of the schools. The teachers, the textbooks, all the things that you need inside those buildings.”
 
With the renewal, the average home in the district will see zero tax increase and agricultural property is exempt.

Revenue from the levy would address priority areas that have been identified by the school board.
 
“Maintaining class sizes…maintaining average class sizes and I do have to say with the overcrowding of our buildings these past two years, class sizes are a little higher than we’d like to see,” explained Dr. Kovash. “To also maintain our technology equipment for students and then to maintain our educational programs.”
 
In addition to maintaining new technologies, the operating levy renewal will also maintain new languages that are being taught.
 
“We were able to add Chinese as a language. Before that we had one world language in our high school. We were able to add Chinese. We want to be able to keep that.”
 
The operating levy currently generates $1.5 million for the school district, and if it is not renewed, reductions will occur in staff, services and programs.
 
“We have been very fortunate previously in the elections to have the support of our community and we hope that the community continues to support our schools,” said Dr. Kovash.
 
The school district says that they are excited to see what the outcome this year will be.