No excuse not to be informed

In less than a month, voters across the Owatonna School District will be asked whether or not they are in favor of building a new high school with the price tag of roughly $104 million. 
That means if you’re not sure how to vote, you have around 20 days to figure it out. There are plenty of opportunities for you to become informed on this issue. 
This is not the first time Owatonna school officials have sought a building referendum from voters. In May, residents narrowly defeated the referendum by a mere 120 votes.
The school district has gone out of its way to provide valuable information to voters in order to let them decide on the importance of having a new high school. Back in spring, tours were provided of the current facility to give residents a taste of what an old, outdated and inefficient building looks like. 
Since the referendum failed, school officials took to the community to find out what needs to happen in order to get the referendum to pass. Officials listened and listened and listened even more. Through the listening sessions, they came up with the right plan for Owatonna. That plan includes lower monthly tax impact, land donation, repurpose current high school, reduce impact to farmers, retain corporate gifts and conceptual site plan. 
They devised a plan to scale back the original referendum to $104 million and added a second question regarding the repurposing of the existing building for $8 million. Both questions will now be on the ballot next month. 
Superintendent Jeff Elstad has also been hitting the coffee shops around the community to pitch the upcoming referendum. There are still some of these opportunities left to meet with Elstad. They include Oct. 21 at Central Park Coffe, Oct. 25 at Owatonna Schools Board Room, Oct. 28 at Olivia’s Family Restaurant and the last one on Oct. 30 in the board room.
Residents also have a chance to learn about the referendum by visiting the school’s website at www.owatonnaproud.org.
There is also a referendum rally planned for next Wednesday, Oct. 23 at the Owatonna Eagles Club for the community to come together not only for fellowship, but also to learn more and ask questions if needed. 
The Times has also been running weekly news stories about the referendum and will continue to in the coming weeks in hopes of better educating the public about what Owatonna needs and why.  
Perhaps Owatonna’s most winning coach Jeff Williams sums it up best, “Would a new football stadium be nice? Sure it would. But this is about a lot more than sports. This is about providing a safe, quality learning environment for all our kids. We are on a clear path toward making changes that will allow our students to be more competitive and successful in a 21st century work environment.”
Election Day for Owatonna voters is Tuesday, Nov. 5. If you can’t make it on Election Day, there is absentee ballot voting available through the Steele County Auditor’s Office.
Plenty of opportunities to obtain information about the Nov. 5 vote will be available between now and then. Take advantage of them. The future of our youth is at stake.
There is no excuse to not be informed.