Ever since starting her role as Eastern Carver County School District superintendent in the summer of 2024, Dr. Erin Rathke knew this day was coming.
On Nov. 4, voters across District 112 will determine if local schools will receive approximately $7 million in additional revenue to help close the gap in funding necessary to maintain academic programs and services for students.
The big “ask” comes in the wake of $5 million in budget cuts the School Board already approved for the 2025-26 academic year. An additional $6.5 million in cuts is anticipated if the referendum fails. The district also has been eating into its dwindling reserve funds to help make ends meet.
“We knew the budget challenge was coming,” Rathke says. “There’s this convergence of factors that we’re having to manage.”
Unpredictable state and federal funding are a major reason why school districts across Minnesota face budgetary challenges, Rathke reports. Over the past two decades, the tax burden for schools has steadily shifted from state revenue sources to local taxes.
Inflationary pressures also have added to the financial strain, she adds.
“We know that educational funding is not keeping up with inflation, and that gap is something that needs to be fixed,” she says. “But I don’t know that it’s going to be fixed.”
Rising health care premiums and seemingly unavoidable salary increases have taken a big bite out of District 112’s budget as well, Rathke notes. But to stay competitive with neighboring districts, she adds, Eastern Carver County Schools has had to keep pace to attract and retain top-quality teachers and staff, plus maintain critical academic programs and student activities.
“We want the best talent,” she says. “We want teachers and staff to come, and we want them to stay. But higher salaries are inevitable when we have an aging teacher population. That causes a challenge.”
Over the past few months, Rathke and other school officials have been getting the word out about the need for this new 10-year operating levy. Rathke has appeared in front of the Victoria, Carver, Chaska and Chanhassen city councils to make her pitch for their support. Similar presentations were made at recent Chaska and Chanhassen Rotary Club meetings.
“We want our community to be informed about what’s happening in the district, whether they have students in the schools, whether they have grandchildren, or whether they are just residents in our cities,” Rathke notes.
Most of the feedback school officials have been hearing is positive, Rathke reports.
“Anytime you ask people to raise their taxes, we should be clear and transparent about what we’re doing — what the past looks like, what our present looks like, and what our future is going to look like with or without a referendum,” she says.
If voters approve the referendum, the district will enjoy more stable funding to help achieve priorities in its strategic plan and sustain academic opportunities for all students, school officials explain.
The added funding will help maintain and enhance gifted and talented programs at the middle school level and enhance such programming at the elementary schools. Also, the district plans to hire additional counseling support at Chanhassen and Chaska high schools and middle schools, addressing growing mental health needs plus offering more college and career planning assistance.
Rathke says she doesn’t like to dwell on potential budget cuts that might occur if the referendum fails — increased class sizes at all grade levels; reduction in music offerings, including 5th grade band; elimination of kindergarten paraprofessionals in classrooms; a reduction in the number of media specialists; a reduction in elementary-level gifted and talented programs; and reduction in staff time supporting high school activities and athletics.
“There’s a lot at jeopardy,” she reports. “Anytime we have to take away services, programs and people from students, it’s a loss.”
Rathke remains optimistic that voters will recognize the need for the levy hike and cast a “yes” ballot. She even urges residents who don’t currently have children in school to step up and vote in favor, because great schools benefit everyone.
“I have a firm belief that strong schools make strong cities,” she explains. “If you have a strong school system, it does raise property values … because people will want to come and live in your city. Eastern Carver County is one of the fastest growing communities in the state. But if we didn’t have a strong public school system, that would not be the case.”
In 2021, voters in District 112 approved a 10-year operating levy that amounted to an additional $550 per student that is still being collected. That levy cost a taxpayer of an average $375,000 home about $20 per month more.
“It was such a boost for our organization to feel like the community supported us,” Rathke says of that earlier successful referendum.
This year’s levy request is for an increase of $742 per student. A homeowner with an average-priced property in the district — about $500,000 — would see their tax bill rise by about $23 a month, according to estimates.
“Our district has a great story,” Rathke says. “We’re having great academic success. We have a really good opportunity in front of us to have our district be predictably funded.”
Whatever happens in the Nov. 4 election, Rathke says her team and the School Board will continue to work together to make sure that the funding provided by taxpayers is managed properly.
“We have to consider and continue to look at operational efficiencies,” she says. “The School Board wants to ensure that we have a return on our investments. If we don’t, we need to move the funding to where it is valuable for us … continuing to be responsible with the money that our community trusts us with.”
Election Information:
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 4. Polling locations for this special election may be different from where residents typically vote. Visit mnvotes.org to find your polling location.
Polling Locations
- Carver City Hall (316 Broadway, Carver)
- Chanhassen Recreation Center (2310 Coulter Blvd., Chanhassen)
- Chaska Event Center (3210 Chaska Blvd, Chaska)*
- Victoria Recreation Center (8475 Kochia Lane, Victoria)
- Early voting is underway in Carver County:
In-Person Voting
- Carver County Government Center
- 600 E. 4th Street, Chaska
- Monday-Friday, Sept. 19-Oct. 31, from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 1, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
- Monday, Nov. 3, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
