School District Population Growth and Referendum Based Reform

Abstract

The White Bear Lake Area School District is an interesting case study of a suburban school district that faces the challenge of an expanding population in a previously rural part of the district. The quickly developing exurb of nearby Hugo, MN has caused the White Bear Lake Area school district to reevaluate what the future of the district will look like and led the district to pursue a referendum vote to fundamentally change the layout of the district.

In this case study, I first analyzed the populations and housing prices of the two cities over time to see change that has happened. I then used pieces from the local newspaper to contextualize the referendum vote and the events leading up to it in November of 2019. Along with this, I conducted interviews with various members of district administration and members of the school board to find how the growing development of Hugo has impacted the district and how the referendum process played out. Due to the timing of this research, adaptations had to be made because of the public health crisis of COVID-19. These changes included focusing heavily on phone or video call interviews with district officials and it presented a challenge of not being able to meet face to face with these individuals.

The results of the research found that many of the potential problems had largely been addressed to the best of the district’s ability or were outside of district control. The results found that the most pressing issue the district is facing as a result of the development of Hugo is the ability of the district to expand itself and its own capabilities due to physical limitations of buildings and classroom space. This has caused the district to reevaluate its future plans based on these quickly developing realities, focusing on a referendum as a means to address these issues. As a result of this research, we can see how referendum votes play an immense role in school district expansion. It is costly to build new schools, and because this isn’t direct funding that districts can receive from the state as they do with more generalized education expenses, districts are reliant on the voters within their boundaries to support district expansion.

While this case study resulted in a passed referendum that will allow the district to properly expand into the future, other districts in similar situations might need to seek alternate reform methods if their voters don’t approve a similar measure.