by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Sauk Rapids could have two brand new schools by August 2020 if recommendations by the district’s Facilities Task Force are accepted by the school board and district residents.
The task force will present its recommendations to the Sauk Rapids-Rice School Board on June 20. The task force, comprised of nearly 100 members, has worked for two years analyzing the needs of the district. Its last meeting was April 19.
At this point, the task force’s recommendations are the following, although they will need to be fine tuned after meeting with school experts and architects before the June 20 presentation to the board:
- Build a new elementary school (a fourth one) on district-owned property near Sauk Rapids-Rice High School. A new school would accommodate 622 students. There are currently about 1,000 students attending Mississippi Heights Elementary School.
- Replace the current Pleasantview Elementary School with a new elementary school at the same location.
- Expand the preschool and early-childhood programs and facilities at Hillside and at Rice Elementary School. Also at the Rice school, add some multi-purpose space, mechanical upgrades and either replace and/or upgrade some of the playground equipment.
- Expand Hillside School for growth and to eliminate its current waiting list.
- Increase accessibility for all students with disabilities, as well as their families, at all schools, especially all bathrooms.
- Do a comprehensive security needs study and then add those security innovations and upgrades to every school in the district according to the strictest standards.
- Add athletic facilities to the high school, such as a football stadium. Such amenities were supposed to have been added in 2003 when the school was built, but lack of state funding made that plan unfeasible. Currently, there are also plans for the City of Sauk Rapids to pay for a fieldhouse with half-cent sales-tax revenue. The fieldhouse would be at the high school and would be managed and maintained, possibly, by district employees.
Rationales
The task force based its recommendations largely on the following data and facts.
- Enrollment has increased dramatically. In the next five years, it’s expected to grow by 17.3 percent. In just the past six years, enrollment increased by almost 800 students. Birth rates on average in Minnesota grew 5 percent between 1999 and 2013, but in Sauk Rapids the rate grew by 35 percent during that same time period.
- Both resident and non-resident student populations are expected to grow. Open enrollment generates about $5 million for the district annually, which helps maintain smaller class sizes, access to technology and improved programming, but even without open-enrollment figures, there is still a serious need for more elementary classroom space, the task force noted.
- While a growing enrollment can be accommodated at the middle school and high school, the need for more elementary school space has reached a critical stage.
Cost
The cost of building one new elementary school is estimated at about $34 million at this point. That would translate into about a $39 annual increase in taxes for a homeowner with a house valued at a market value of $125,000.
The other new school projects and other amenities would obviously add to that cost.
If the school board approves, public input would be required before the board would consider bringing a school-bond referendum to district voters either in May 2017 or November 2017.