Bond referendum surveys were sent out to residents of the Hampton-Dumont School District last week to help the district determine the priorities and needs of the school in regards to district facilities. The surveys are due by Friday, May 17th.
Hampton-Dumont Superintendent, Aaron Becker, tells Radio on the Go News there’s momentum for another bond referendum this year and says the surveys will help the district determine how the bond may look in November.
*Becker #1
“With the survey, we’re trying to get feedback from all of our district community members and just let us know why they may have voted yes, why they may have voted no, and have some open-ended questions so people can put a narrative in there, just a couple phrases that we really need to look at as we start to plan and strategize what those projects might be. We are still in the process of trying to identify what those projects will be if they stay the same as the last time, or if we need to adjust based on some of the feedback that we get from our community members. So we feel it’s important for the community to have a voice in this. Obviously there our voters. It’s going to dictate a lot of our decisions that we make here in the near future.”
Last year’s bond referendum failed with 55.66 percent of votes cast voting yes and Becker says the surveys ask community members to identify what information they would like to know more about ahead of another possible referendum.
*Becker #2
“If there are some things that really we didn’t think about the last time, we need to make sure that we address it. We give some more information on tax impacts or reasons why classrooms may need to be updated or why an athletic facility might need to be updated but then also we want to know about how do you prefer to get your information, different ways of communication. So we’re also talking a lot about our public meetings. Last year we did public meetings, but it was in one space. We’ve talked about, okay, we need to make sure that we do walkthroughs of our classrooms, of any facilities, space that we’re thinking about renovating. So people can get their eyes on it and ask questions and actually see it in action too.”
The surveys can be submitted electronically by scanning the QR code on the survey. You can drop off a physical copy of the survey at any of the Hampton-Dumont school offices through Friday. Surveys can be dropped off Friday at the Dumont American Legion from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. and at the H-D School District office Friday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
