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Please help us inform voters about the questions on the ballot on Nov. 7 by sharing the information below with your friends, neighbors and community members who do not have students attending SoWashCo Schools. 

If you have a question about our bond and levy questions, please use the button below to submit your question to us and we will respond back to you.

*choose "long-range facility planning" in the drop-down on the contact us form

South Washington County Schools (SoWashCo Schools) is hosting an in-person community information session about the bond and levy questions on the November ballot.

In-person Community Information Session

Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 6 p.m.

Led by Superintendent Julie Nielsen.

Board Room

District Service Center

7362 East Point Douglas Road S.

Cottage Grove, MN 55016

We are less than three weeks away from Election Day 2023. SoWashCo Schools will have three questions on the ballot on Nov. 7 that address safety and space in our schools.

This week’s Election 2023 newsletter will focus on Question 2, which addresses elementary school space at schools projected to exceed capacity and renovations for bathrooms at five elementary schools. If this question passes the tax impact will be about $1 per month on a median valued home of $409,000.

Elementary School Additions:

• Bailey Elementary $8.7 million: Construction of classroom addition and new cafeteria and kitchen
• Grey Cloud Elementary $9.4 million: Construction of classroom addition and new cafeteria and kitchen
• Pine Hill Elementary $10.9 million: New classroom additions, gym space addition and new bathrooms
• Red Rock Elementary$4.3 million: Construction of new classroom addition

Elementary Bathroom Renovations:

• Crestview, Hillside, Pine Hill, Pullman and Royal Oaks $6.9 million: Construction of additional bathrooms, each of these schools currently only contain a single set/four stalls

Detailed information about the Capital Project Levy (Technology Project Levy) will be shared next week. If you would like to learn more now please visit sowashco.org/facilityplanning.

To learn more about Question 1, check out last week’s newsletter.

Bond Question 2 is contingent on the passage of Question 1, meaning if Question 1 fails to pass, Question 2 automatically fails as well.

• Elementary school attendance boundary changes will be implemented for the 2024-25 school year.

• Middle school boundaries will be adjusted to keep elementary school cohorts together as much as possible.

• Crestview, Hillside, Pine Hill, Pullman and Royal Oaks elementary schools will continue with one set of bathrooms.

If Bond Question 1 and/or Question 2 do NOT pass, elementary boundary changes will be in effect starting the 2024-2025 school year. In addition, middle school boundaries will be adjusted to keep elementary school cohorts together as much as possible.

The elementary school boundaries adjustments would impact about 427 current students.There will not be any boundary changes for high schools next school year. 

Please use this boundary changes tool to see if your address would be impacted by the potential changes.

You can also view the boundary map changes for each school below.

Armstrong, Bailey, Cottage Grove Elementary, Cottage Grove Middle, Crestview, Grey Cloud, Hillside, Liberty Ridge, Middleton, Newport, Oltman Middle, Red Rock, Woodbury Elementary

Is the bond request for new bathrooms to accommodate students who are transgender?

By law SoWashCo Schools must allow students to use the restroom of the sex they identify with. We do not keep track; we do not monitor; it is something by law we must provide.

As for the bathrooms at our elementary schools built in the 1960s -- SoWashCo Schools is not at the point of designing what the bathrooms will look like or exactly where the bathrooms will be located. Our cost estimates are for the square footage needed for the projects. The design process will not begin until the question(s) are approved. At that point, the design of the bathrooms will be determined.

How do I find out more about the candidates running for school board?

There are eleven candidates running for the South Washington County School Board. Three seats are available for election. The Woodbury Cottage Grove League of Women Voters held a candidate forum on Sept. 19, 2023, where candidates were asked to respond to several questions about schools. You can watch a recording of the forum on YouTube.

What is the length of years for the bonds for the upcoming three questions on Nov. 7, 2023?

The funding for the two bond questions is for 20-year terms. The Technology Projects Levy in ballot Question 3 would revoke the current levy and replace it with the new one for the next 10 years.

What will the new secure entrances look like and how will they be monitored?

Each building may look slightly different. We start working on the design phase of the projects if the bond is approved.

Oltman Middle School is a good example of what we plan to do at the proposed sites. Visitors are buzzed in by a staff member and enter into the school office without having access to the hallways and school areas. 

Type in your address to see if your student would be impacted by the potential boundary changes that would occur if Bond Question 2 does not pass.

You can use this tool to determine the estimated property tax increase each ballot question would have on your household.

Check out our frequently asked questions about the bonds and levy.

Regular polling locations are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7. Find your polling location at www.mnvotes.org.

Early in-person voting is held at four Washington County sites.

View the informational video about the bond and levy questions on the ballot.

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