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MARTIN COUNTY - Alongside votes for national, state and local offices, an amendment to give more money to school districts without taking more from the taxpayers is also on the upcoming general election ballot.
The amendment language on the ballot will read "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to increase the funding going to all school districts from the permanent school fund, which is a fund that supports school districts without raising individual income or property taxes, effective July 1, 2027?"
What makes this different from other votes is any ballot that leaves the vote blank will count as a no vote on the amendment.
The amendment has to do with the Permanent School Fund, a fund established in 1858 and funded using profits from Minnesota School Trust Lands and cash and investments credited to the fund. The fund is at $2.4 billion, and 2.5 percent of that total is distributed yearly to all school districts in Minnesota. This is done on a per-student basis, around $68 per student.
This amendment seeks to raise that yearly total to 4.5 percent, adding about 33 percent to what school districts receive from the state, from $68 to $100 per student. While bipartisanship has been an issue in many areas in recent years, the Minnesota House of Representatives was able to put this on the ballot unanimously, 134-0.
The state legislature could not pass it outright, as it changes the state constitution.
"The way that we manage these funds is way different than it was 150-160 years ago," State Representative Bjorn Olson told the Fairmont School Board at a recent meeting. "They have a lot more money and can distribute a lot more of that money to its original purpose, which is educating our students."
Fairmont Superintendent Andy Traetow said the funds, which in the 2025-26 school year were $122,035 for the Fairmont Area School District, go straight into the general fund, which pays for the overall operational budget.
"You have personnel-related expenses, which is the largest portion of our budget," he said. "You have facilities and maintenance, which encompasses a lot of things. You have transportation. You have food service. You have the general upkeep of our buildings and grounds. All of that plays into our day-to-day."
Truman Superintendent Lisa Shellum said theirs, which amounted to $15,664 in the 2025-26 school year, goes to the areas that need extra dollars.
"All of your general fund money goes to support restricted funds when there’s not enough in those restricted funds," she said. "It also goes to fund areas that don’t have a fund."
While it is not a large part of their budget, Martin County West Superintendent Cori Reynolds said slim margins make the funds they do receive, which were $43,275 for the 2025-26 school year, an important part of their funding.
"It's roughly the equivalent of a paraprofessional," she said. "Somebody who would be in the classroom supporting students with special needs. It would not be possible to quantify the importance of that service for students. It's roughly the equivalent of some of our utility bills to keep the buildings running, because there’s not going to be much learning that happens if the buildings are cold, dirty or not operating well."
Granada-Huntley-East Chain received $20,612 for the 2025-26 school year. This amendment would add around $10,000 in funding, allowing new and returning opportunities to open for the district.
"We like to invest in our extracurricular activities to give students opportunities to participate in a variety of activities," Superintendent Doug Storbeck said. "It might also allow us to purchase new equipment, new technology, maybe enable our students to go on a specific field trip that would be beneficial. There’s a variety of options an extra $10,000 might open up for our school."
With cuts having been made over the past couple of years at Truman, Shellum said it could directly benefit the school district in bringing back a program or two they had to abandon.
"I didn’t want to necessarily do that, but it was a natural cut," she said. "There was extra support in math, for example. We just lost the program until we can figure out how to fund it again. It was an extra, but it was a very nice extra program for kids."
Seeing a spotlight put on state school funding through this amendment's statewide vote, Traetow said state funding is critical to the vitality of Minnesota Public Schools.
"The fact our governing bodies came to a consensus on bipartisan support of something, I think that’s a positive for our state governing bodies, for our public schools," he said. "Anytime you can have that level of uniform support from the state capital, that’s a positive thing for us."
All four superintendents and Representative Bjorn Olson voiced their support for this amendment. People can vote early now in person at the Martin County Courthouse until Nov. 2 and from, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3 at your designated polling place.