WINONA, Minn. — The Winona School Board completed approval of a process to borrow $16 million through health and safety bonds to update air quality issues at Jefferson and Washington-Kosciusko elementary schools. The bonds will be repaid over 15-years. The bonds are structured in a way that will not raise property taxes. The approval was on a 3-2 vote with Tena Lehnerta and Steve Schild the dissenters. They have argued that investing in the old buildings was dubious amid enrollment declinrs that suggest closing one of the schools eventually.
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Karl Sonneman, board member: “What drives this forward for me is the critical need to do something about air quality in these two buildings. These buildings are very useful. They are very solidly built buildings. They are amenable and adaptable to future 21st century uses. But they need the air quality improvements that are proposed here.”