MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Parents Sue Anoka-Hennepin School District in Fight to Place Two Funding Questions Before Voters

ANOKA, MN (July 19, 2026) A parent-led campaign seeking additional funding for Minnesota’s largest school district has moved from community organizing into the courtroom, opening a consequential legal fight over whether Anoka-Hennepin residents can compel the district to place two operating-levy questions on the November ballot.

Parents for Good and other community members filed a lawsuit July 14 in Anoka County District Court after the Anoka-Hennepin School District declined to verify more than 3,200 petition signatures or advance the proposed questions toward a public vote.

The lawsuit asks the court to require the district to follow what the plaintiffs contend is a voter-petition process preserved under Minnesota law. With an August 11 deadline for certifying questions for the November 3 election, the case is unfolding under significant time pressure.

At stake is not only whether voters will consider more than $41 million in potential annual school funding. The case could also clarify an unresolved disagreement over the respective powers of residents and school boards in Minnesota referendum elections.

Petition Campaign Becomes a Court Fight

Parents for Good formally delivered the petition to the district June 25 after volunteers gathered signatures from residents across the Anoka-Hennepin attendance area.

The district serves more than 36,000 students in communities including Anoka, Andover, Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Champlin, Coon Rapids, Dayton, Ham Lake, Nowthen, Oak Grove and Ramsey.

Organizers argued that the petition contained enough valid signatures to require the district to place the proposed funding measures before voters.

The district disagreed.

Anoka-Hennepin officials declined to verify the signatures or begin the process of placing the questions on the ballot. District representatives have maintained that Minnesota law gives school boards exclusive authority to initiate an operating-levy referendum and does not permit residents to force such an election through a petition.

Parents for Good responded by turning to the courts.

“Our community came together because we care deeply about our schools and the students who depend on them,” Parents for Good co-founder Sheighlyn Berbig said in a statement reported by FOX 9.

Berbig said parents, educators and other residents collected the signatures because they wanted voters to decide whether the district should receive additional funding.

“We followed the process established in state law, and now we’re asking the court to ensure voters have the opportunity to be heard,” she said.

What the Two Questions Would Do

The petition seeks two separate ballot questions.

The first would increase the district’s general education revenue by $756.63 per adjusted pupil unit for 10 years. Earlier estimates indicated that the measure could generate more than $30 million annually.

The second question would be contingent on approval of the first. It would provide an additional $275 per adjusted pupil unit for 10 years, producing approximately $11 million annually for student-support services.

Together, the measures could provide more than $41 million annually.

Parents for Good previously estimated that the combined questions would increase property taxes by approximately $37 per month, or $444 annually, for a home valued at $400,000. Individual tax effects would vary according to property value and classification.

Submitting the questions to voters would not approve the funding. It would allow residents to decide whether they are willing to pay additional property taxes to support district operations and student services.

Years of Cuts Drive Parent Campaign

The referendum campaign emerged after several rounds of budget reductions across Anoka-Hennepin.

Since February 2024, the district has cut approximately $22.2 million in spending and eliminated more than 200 positions. The reductions have affected teachers, counselors, social workers, administrative employees and other staff.

District leaders have attributed the financial pressure to inflation, rising operating and personnel costs, the expiration of federal pandemic-relief funding and enrollment patterns that have not produced enough additional revenue to match expenses.

Officials have said the reductions were structured to protect classroom instruction and prevent even larger increases in class sizes.

Parents supporting the referendum argue that counselors, social workers, paraeducators and other support personnel are also essential to students’ daily success. They contend that continued reductions could weaken mental-health services, academic support and the district’s ability to attract and retain employees.

The debate has placed two genuine community concerns in direct conflict. Families are worried about diminishing educational services, while taxpayers must consider the long-term cost of a substantial property-tax increase.

The petition campaign sought to resolve that tension through a public vote. The lawsuit now asks the court to determine whether residents have the legal authority to require that vote.

District Says Minnesota Law Is Clear

Anoka-Hennepin has accepted service of the lawsuit and says it is prepared to defend its interpretation of state law.

“The lawsuit claims that Minnesota law allows a referendum to be placed on the ballot based upon a petition supported by eligible voters,” the district said in a public response.

The district said its general counsel explained during the School Board’s July 13 business meeting that Minnesota law does not permit a voter petition to place an operating-levy referendum on the ballot.

“This position is supported through an independent legal review and also reflects the position of the Minnesota School Boards Association,” the district stated.

Anoka-Hennepin said it is confident that its interpretation is consistent with legislative action and will defend that position in court.

Dispute Centers on Minnesota Statutes

The legal disagreement stems from changes made to Minnesota’s education-finance statutes and the relationship between those provisions and separate election laws.

District officials point to language stating that an operating-levy referendum may be called by the School Board. They maintain that legislative changes eliminated the former authority for voters to initiate such a referendum through petition.

Parents for Good argues that another provision of Minnesota election law continues to recognize a petition process for local ballot questions. The group contends that it complied with that process and that the district was obligated to verify the signatures.

The lawsuit will require the court to determine how those statutes operate together and whether the petition provisions apply to school operating-levy elections.

The court has not ruled on the merits of either side’s interpretation.

August 11 Deadline Creates Urgency

The district must certify any November referendum questions by August 11.

That leaves the parties and the court with a narrow window to resolve the dispute if the questions are to appear on the November 3 ballot.

A ruling for Parents for Good could require the district to verify the petition and take the steps necessary to submit the questions to voters. A ruling for the district could confirm that only the School Board has the authority to initiate the referendum.

The School Board could also independently decide to place funding questions on the ballot, although it has not adopted a resolution doing so.

Until the court rules or the board acts, families, employees and taxpayers across the district remain uncertain about whether the funding proposal will reach voters this fall.

What began as a campaign about school counselors, classroom staffing and long-term financial stability has now become a broader test of who controls access to the ballot when thousands of residents ask to vote on the future of their public schools.

Sources

• FOX 9
• Anoka-Hennepin School District
• Parents for Good
• Minnesota Legislature, 2026 education-finance law
• Previous MinneapoliMedia reporting on the Anoka-Hennepin referendum petition campaign: Parent Group Formally Submits Petitions to Anoka-Hennepin School District for November Referendum
• A related follow-up: More Than 3,000 Residents Urge Anoka-Hennepin School Board to Place Funding Referendum Before Voters

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