 Brainerd School officials are celebrating today after three questions on the school's referendum ballot were approved. Nearly 10,000 voters were out at the polls yesterday for a 37 percent voter turnout. Sarah Winkleman spoke to the district about how the Blueprint 181 project will now get underway. Well, Election Day has come and gone, but now the school district is ready to get going on all three parts of their facilities plan. I'm just absolutely ecstatic. I'm so excited for the future of our kids, for our school district and for our entire community. As the vote slowly rolled in last night, question one dealing with the elementary schools was holding steady and ended with 60 percent of voter approval. Question two dealing with secondary education was a closer run, but ended with 55 percent in the yes column. This has been a community partnership focused on education. A community that asked for question three and the enhancements of their performing arts center, which just passed with 51 percent of votes. And even though close, all three questions are moving forward. We have an outline asked to which ones we begin right away, what the priorities are on day one today. First on that list is the construction of a new elementary school. Do a traffic study at Forest View and look at some of the land and how that would work and also have conversations with the city of Baxter to see if we can come to an agreement with that land right to the east of Forest View Middle School. In order to improve safety and security at the high school level, one major change will come with repurposing the Brainerd South Campus and moving all students grades nine through twelve under one roof. By bringing all of our kids nine through twelve onto that same campus, the North Campus of Brainerd High School, it's going to be wonderful because we're going to be able to lock all the doors, have that controlled entrance. But all district buildings will undergo massive improvements, necessary upgrades, and new projects over the next four years. We want to make sure that when this is done that everybody really feels that they're getting the highest quality educational opportunities, taking into consideration our taxpayers' generous investment. Reporting in Brainerd, Sarah Winkelman, Lakeland News. The total voter investment is $145.8 million, which is roughly a $7 tax increase per month for the average home in Brainerd. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.