ABOVE: Celia and Sam Viesselman, Shayna Wolfe and Jen Harris are led through a tour of the school and improvements the referendum would provide by Associate Principal Brooke Schultz during the talk and open house Tuesday.

FAIRMONT – Several community members took the chance to learn about Fairmont Area School’s proposed referendum during a talk and open house after the school board meeting on Tuesday.

Superintendent Andy Traetow started the proceedings by talking about the upcoming vote on Nov. 4 at the Knights of Columbus Hall, as well as early and absentee voting being available from now until Nov. 3 at the Martin County Courthouse.

Attendee Julie Laue asked why there was not a voting place in Ceylon for those outside of Fairmont, like there had been in the past. Business Manager Jessica Korte said that, in the end, there were no available places. As examples, she gave the city hall, which would no longer be a polling place, and the American Legion, which would be ineligible due to having a bar in the same area as the voting location.

Laue asked about voting for those who can’t make it out to fill out a ballot. Korte said they can request a ballot be mailed to them, or they can have a designated person bring a ballot to them as an agent of delivery.

One major factor of the referendum is critical facility improvements.

“Our maintenance crew does a phenomenal job of keeping our buildings in great working order,” Traetow said. “At the same time, our resources only go so far. So how do we continue to be able to meet those needs?”

This includes replacing deteriorated wastewater piping under a couple of their hallways, replacing an elevator built with the elementary school in 1954, and adding windows to 33 classrooms, which has been a consistent ask from students as long as Traetow has been at Fairmont High School.

Another piece of the referendum is additions to the performing arts spaces, which Traetow said are struggling with the current number of students.

“Band and choir are confined in the basement without bathrooms,” he said. “Our orchestra program practices here in the performing arts center. There are days they have to take their instruments down to the HVAC lab due to scheduling and availability of spaces. The capacity of our band room is 120. We consistently exceed that with our Senior High concert band, so they have to have their class periods split and oftentimes don’t rehearse together until the day of the performance.”

The front of the high school building would also get an overhaul to enhance student safety.

“We’re looking to move our office to the exterior of the building so visitors don’t pass through a student hallway before entering, before getting access to our academic spaces,” Treatow said.

This would mean everyone would have to pass through a general office before getting access to the building itself, increasing safety for students.

The referendum is $21.7 million. For someone with a $200,000 residential home, it would add around $7 a month, and for farmers with a market value of $10,000 per acre, it would be six cents per acre per month. This would go from 2026 to 2046 or when the project is fully paid for, whichever comes first.

Of that total referendum amount, Fairmont taxpayers would only pay 74 percent of it. Twenty-six percent will be covered by the state Ag2School program, which Traetow said is unlikely to go away, as several schools have already committed to referendums with Ag2School.

After the talk, Traetow, High School Principal Chad Brusky, Junior High School Associate Principal Brooke Schultz and Buildings and Grounds Director Tyler Garrison led tours for attendees to show them firsthand where they would be making changes and how. Korte and Beth Downes from Ehlers were also on hand to discuss financial specifics.

For more information and to see what the tax impact would be on your home or land, visit https://www.fairmontbond.com/.