This document contains the results of a survey given to residents of Moose Lake, Minnesota regarding funding for improvements or a new building for the Moose Lake School District. The survey results show preferences around preferred tax increases, housing demographics, income levels, ages, and whether respondents have family attending the schools. The document also includes over 50 comments from survey respondents discussing their views on renovating versus building new, preferred locations, need for improved plans and cost estimates, cooperation with other districts, and other opinions on addressing the school district's facility needs.

1. What tax increase would you
support?
112
28
29
39
79
235
0 50 100 150 200 250
$200-$300
$300-$400
$400-500
$500-$600
Any Tax Increase
No Tax Increase

2. Home Value
54
91
264
66
73
28
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Renter
<$100,000
<$250,000
>$250,000
20+ acres
Business owner

3. What is the preferred site to locate the
building?
220 230 240
Current Site
Highway 10
231
235

4. What is the average household
income?
0 50 100 150 200 250
< $30,000
<$60,000
<$100,000
<$150,000
>$150,000
146
202
120
42
16

5. What is the age of the person filling
out the survey?
0
43
66
100
108
221
18-25
26-35
36-45
46-55
56-65
65+
0 50 100 150 200 250

6. Do you have children or grandchildren
who attend Moose Lake Schools?
96
61
83
352
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Yes, Children
Yes, Children and Grandchildren
Yes, Grandchildren
No

7. If you voted no on the last bond. Would you vote yes
with significant state help?
72
139
116
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Yes
No
I Don't Know

10. Children Demographics of People who would vote for any tax
increase vs. no tax increase

11. Housing Demographics of People who would vote for any
tax increase vs. no tax increase

12. Comments
• Surveys mailed: 1637
• Surveys returned as undeliverable: 172
• Surveys returned: 552 (another hundred came in after the deadline. Similar answers on the surveys.)
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Comments:
• I have traveled extensively in the Asian countries. I have seen extremely poor conditions of the schools, however, Asian students are the most successful students in the world. It’s not
the condition of the school that determines success!
•
• Three schools within 15 miles of each other need to share costs – at least administrative costs. There’s no reason other than politics that this could not be done. I’d like to see some
mature thinking with mature results (mergers). (several comments about merging with either Willow and/or Barnum)
•
• We need a new school.
•
• If the school is moved, this would hurt businesses in the downtown. Case in point – East Central School move. Help support those who support the schools.
•
• A new building doesn’t make a better school. A better school needs happy, dedicated staff and teachers.
•
• A new building would be the best option. Site: Highway 10 property away from the lake.
•
• Others have paid for my children to be educated. I want to pass it on – and current building is not sustainable.
•
• This community can not support a new school on its own.
•
• The kids deserve a new school.
•
• Why should I pay more for my child to go to school just because my house is valued higher. All children should be treated equal.
•
• K-6 at current facility, 7-12 at Highway 10.
•
• Moose Lake absolutely needs a brand new school. Why patch the old? Moose Lake residents need to realize a new school will keep this town alive. We need the town to grow and
prosper.

13. Comments
• More bonding needed than half.
•
• Moose Lake needs an accommodating school for academics, life skills, challenged students, safety, mentoring, accessibility (handicapped and parking), sporting in one place to save on
bussing expenses and security. Then – turn the old site into an expanded park!
•
• Would like to see building plans before voting. (A lot of these comments)
•
• We need more businesses in and around Moose Lake for tax basis for our school.
•
• Build the most efficient building and don’t worry about how it looks. Definitely need more parking. Renovate/improve/expand. Get a really good architect who knows what teachers
and students need for an efficient and effective learning atmosphere.
•
• It is too early to try this again. School should make a plan and provide it to the community. Last time there was so little information. It would have been nice to see some kind of plans
for the new school at the last vote.
•
• Would vote “no” for anything on Highway 10 site.
•
• Maybe propose this: K-6 in Barnum, 7-9 in Moose Lake, 10-12 in Willow River. Don’t believe school board has acted in good faith in negotiating with surrounding districts. Believe the
school board has intentionally misled the public at times about cost of new school.
•
• Need to provide a better plan to the community.
•
• Need to secure more grants or state aid before the vote is held. Be more aggressive in outlining the positives of building, interest rates, attracting more students, families, less
maintenance costs, etc.
•
• Is the amount asked for a dream or “state of the art” or simply a quality building?
•
• More families would send their kids to our school if we had a new school.
•
• I hope the building being proposed will match the needs of a changing classroom landscape. The way school is changing requires different tools and environments than in the past. I
hope a facility would be built that is ready for the future.

14. Comments
• Before you build, you, as a school need to get better. You, as a school, rate a failing grade. It is not the walls that result in success, it is what is within/inside those walls. Stop wasting tax
money looking for support until you as a school improve.
•
• I think illiteracy/lack of folks with post-secondary educational attainment in this area will continue to doom bond proposals.
•
• 7-12 facility on Highway 10 should have been done when the property was first purchased many years ago. Long overdue.
•
• If we would have started fixing our old facility years ago instead of insisting the voters needed a new school, maybe our repair needs wouldn’t be so great at this time. (A lot of these
comments)
•
• $15,000,000 seems excessive to remodel the current school. I feel it is greatly exaggerated. Could the remodeling be done in stages of 5 year increments?
•
• Do a study and present cost to public to completely fix present site. Show evening and weekend usage – utility costs to run as community center year round (as it is being used).
•
• If a school facility is not going to be put on the county 10 property, sell it to a developer and use the money to offset the cost of a new facility.
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• Waste of money to renovate current high school building. Will strongly oppose any building on current site.
•
• If the school disappears, so does the town.
•
• Need to stress all that needs to be repaired or replaced. Elementary and High School – from roofs to windows, brick, electric and plumbing, boilers, what condition the foundation is in
since the flood.
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• I don’t believe it would be safe for kids to walk to town along Highway 73. I believe kids would walk to town even though buses would be provided.
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• Sell the property on Highway 10 to help fund the school.
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• Building on County 10 site would cause too much traffic congestion up there.
•
• I would not support a new building on the current site or Highway 10 property. There are sites better suited for building, with better soil conditions. You must use common sense.
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• If the school moved to County 10 property, what convenient location would there be for other senior citizens or groups to meet and disperse information?
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• Present a plan! Not pass out a bunch of ideas. Present a paper with plans and costs detailed. Have an idea of what the current building will be listed for and its value.
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• Don’t have a split campus. Keep K-12 at same site to keep operating costs down and allow sharing of services/resources.
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• Address issues that the “no” voters brought up, such as the plan for including the furnishings and landscape being or not being part of the estimates.
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• Quite a few comments about mistrust of Board and administration.
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