As teachers welcome their students on their first day of school twice this week, Sevastopol School District introduced an upcoming referendum question. Monday marked the first day of school for approximately half the school while the other half got their academic year started on Tuesday. It is part of the district’s reopening plan for the next two weeks as teachers and staff adjust to having students back in the building for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the school in March. Masks are being worn throughout the day by students and faculty except for when eating lunch or if they have a medical reason. Superintendent Kyle Luedtke hopes Monday was a positive step towards welcoming the entire student population back to their hallways after Labor Day.

Luedtke says the only hiccup on the school’s opening days was student drop-off and pick-up. The district prefers parents to enter off Ripp Road onto Pioneer Way and following the flow of traffic around the south side of the school. On Tuesday, Sevastopol officially announced Tuesday it would be seeking an $8 million operational referendum. The referendum would call for $2 million over the next four years, replacing a 2018 measure that expires at the end of the current school year. The District says if all other factors stay constant the financial impact should remain the same. A restructuring of the debt for its building project could bring a decrease in the tax rate.