Levy Workshop Information

Communication strategies to support local school district referenda Susan spoke generally of effective communications methods and then specifically addressed what White Bear Lake School District learned from a referendum defeat to orchestrate a referendum victory the following year.
Speaker Susan Brott Past-President, Minnesota School Public Relations Association (MinnSPRA) Communications Coordinator, previously in District #624 White Bear Lake Schools, currently is the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer in District #197	Materials Telling Your Story: Communication strategies to support local school district referendum Making Lemonade out of Lemons - Turning a Referendum Loss into a Successful Two-Year: A case study of the White Bear Lake Area Schools operating levy referenda 2006 & 2007
Note: Use Facebook in recruiting recent alumni for absentee ballots. We did this in 2007 in White Bear and it worked very well. I would think in a general election year like 2008 it would be even more effective. And now that Facebook is not restricted to college/university students, you may find even more alums. (Same could probably be used with MySpace, although the recent high school grads I talk to say Facebook is the better choice).

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South Washington County: A Bond and a Renewal
Barb and Leslee discussed how the coordinated efforts of the district and the citizen group resulted in the passage of the state’s largest ever school bond one year and a referendum renewal the following year.

Speakers
Barbara Brown
Communications Director, District #833 South Washington County Schools

Leslee Boyd
Chair, 2006 Bond Election and the 2007 Levy Renewal for the District #833 South Washington County citizen’s committee

Materials
Citizen’s Committee + District Effort = Success x 2

Administrative To-Do List

Administrative To-Do List Content

Staff Participation Q&A

Visit the Citizen’s Website at www.vote833.com
User Name: lboyd Password: lb2007

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Passing a Bond and Referendum in a Presidential Election Year Ken was Superintendent in Cambridge-Isanti in 2004 when the district passed a $47.7 million dollar bond to build two schools and an accompanying operating levy. Ken discussed the district’s year-long efforts to effectively build community support and the activities leading up to the Presidential election day.
Speaker Ken Runberg – Email Retired Superintendent	Materials Bond Issues and Operating Levies – Cambridge

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Multi-year Bond and Levy Campaigns in Delano John discussed Delano’s continuing drive to build and staff a new school in the district.
Speaker John Sweet – Email Superintendent of Delano School District	Materials Multi-year Bond and Levy Campaigns in Delano

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Additional Materials

Successful Referendum Strategies
This information was given out during a Panel Discussion from a Levy Workshop sponsored by SEE back in 2003. This is an excellent document in detailing District 196 year-long effort to pass their referendum.