MARION SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES $300K OPT-OUT

Monday night action is a continuation of previous 5-year opt-outs

Meeting in regular session Monday night, Feb. 10, the Marion School Board OK’d a five-year opt-out in the amount of $300,000, which as approved will be payable through the 2030 calendar year. This is a continuation of similar opt-outs approved by the board in the past 15 years, all of which have expired.

“We’ve always done it with the thought, ‘if we don’t need it, we don’t use it,’” said Marion School Board President Scott Tieszen. “We just as soon not have to use it.”

Tieszen noted that schools across the state have passed opt-outs in response to a decrease in the mill levy at the state level, which in turn decreases revenue received by districts like Marion.

“This is just how schools operate these days,” he says. “It’s one of those things we just have to do.”

As is the case with all board-approved opt-outs, Monday’s action may be referred to a public vote. That would happen if a petition signed by at least five percent of all registered voters living in the Marion School District is filed within 20 days of the first publication of the official opt-out notice. That notice is scheduled to be published in The Courier the week of Feb. 16; the official publication date will be Thursday, Feb. 20.