Mayo High School’s planetarium could face charges if the RPS referendum fails

On October 24, 2024By Yukito

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – Voters in the Rochester Public School District have a nearly $200 million decision to make on Election Day. One potential cut that school principals say will have to be made if the referendum is rejected is the Planetarium at Mayo High School. Ben Joslin, director of the Planetarium, said it has welcomed nearly a million students and community members since it opened in the 1960s.

“Since we opened our doors, we have had thousands of students, almost a million visitors,” he said. “The change in perspective is really motivating, but then it makes you realize everything and makes things memorable.”

Joslin oversees the planetarium and said he has seen firsthand the amazement and benefits the students have brought him.

“I had a student here yesterday and she told me she was out with her friends and (she said) oh, I can point them out, I know what they mean, and look at the color of that star,” Joslin said. “Something they wouldn’t be able to achieve through other types of learning.”

Change may be on the horizon as the district must pass a proposed 10-year referendum to keep the planetarium’s doors open.

Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Kent Pekel explained the possible consequences.

“If the referendum is approved, we will be financially stable,” he said. “If this doesn’t happen, we will have to close schools, increase class sizes, and cut jobs and programs like the Mayo High School Planetarium, but also reading teachers and gifted and talented teachers.”

It costs the district nearly $90,300 to maintain the planetarium annually.

“And the reason we’re putting things like this on this referendum, with reading teachers, is because it’s to get students excited about learning,” Pekel said. “A lot of the school district’s curriculum would be cut out of this,” Joslin said.

Time will tell whether the stars align with the district’s spending plan. School principals, however, remain optimistic that the planetarium will remain a bright spot for students.

“We want to be a district that has these resources and really helps kids develop a love of learning,” Pekel said.

The Mayo High School Planetarium serves several school districts in southeastern Minnesota. In 2023, Joslin hosted 19,185 students and community members and hosted 621 performances. According to Joslin, the highest attendance was in the 1970s at 24,210 around the time of the moon landings.

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