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Report: District 196 needs $98 million to reach standardPosted: 1/20/03 by Brett Andersen ISD 196 needs nearly $98 million to bring all 31 schools up to "district standards" according to the facilities and equipment report released Jan. 13. The 41-page report is available at www.district196.com or by contacting the district office at (651) 423 -7775. Whether or not the district will seek the funds through a bond referendum in the November election is largely dependent on public feedback, said several board members at the Jan. 13 meeting. ìObviously a bond issue would have to be done,î said Superintendent Dr. John Haro. ìThere is really no other mechanism in Minnesota for us to get this done.î Haro said a ìmagic calendarî does not exist and there is no set plan for a bond. ìItís not a done deal,î said Board Member Kevin Sampers. Board Member Rob Duchscher said the recessed economy may be a reason to forgo a bond. The economy could be a positive or a negative thing said Board Member Bruce Endler. He said he ìcould be convincedî that a downturned economy could allow the district to obtain more favorable bids and better bond rates, therefore saving money in the long term. Public input will be gathered at three ìDistrict Dialoguesî scheduled 6 to 8 p.m. on each of the following nights: ï Tuesday, Jan. 21 at Black Hawk Middle School, 1540 Deerwood Drive, Eagan; ï Wednesday, Jan. 22 at Valley Middle School, 900 Gardenview Drive, Apple Valley, and ï Thursday, Jan. 23 at Rosemount Middle School, 3135 143rd St., Rosemount. Residents are not limited to attending the dialogue in their home area. Input is also being taken on a form available at all schools and on the Web site. Residents may also e-mail comments to supt@district196.org. Haro is asking that comments concerning the report be submitted to the district by Feb. 14. In April of 2002, the district held a series of dialogues seeking public input on the goal of establishing district standards for facilities and equipment. Those dialogues generated five main areas of concern according to the district. For the last six months, the Facilities and Equipment Committee has been studying the areas of teaching and learning spaces, common areas, student support, safety and security, and technology in order to create district standards and identify problem areas in the district. The committee consists of district administrators and includes several school principals. The report identifies upgrades of $54.05 million for teaching and learning spaces; $13.86 million for common areas; $11.6 million for student support; $3.17 million for safety and security; and $15.3 million for technology across the district. According to Director of Secondary Education John Currie, an architect provided a free estimate of the costs. The report is broken down into cost per category in individual schools. The school calling for the most updates is Rosemount High School, which needs about $14.05 million worth of work, according to the committee. Potential improvements include adding 10 classrooms; improving the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and plumbing systems; and updating the auditorium sound system. According to Currie, RHS must rent sound equipment in order to stage the productions the district provides. Eastview High School in Apple Valley is in the same theatrical situation and is also recommended for the $150,000 sound system upgrade. RHS opened in 1963 and Eastview opened in 1997. According to the report, Eastview needs $1.47 million to adhere to standards. Eagan High School is recommended for $8.09 million in upgrades. The bulk of the upgrades is in adding 11 classrooms, three science labs, bathrooms and ìstudent circulationî space costing $5.3 million. Another $1.5 million would add student locker and common areas. EHSí needs are driven more by enrollment projections than by wear and tear. EHS has a building capacity of 2,040 with an adjusted capacity of 1,915. Adjusted capacity is the building capacity minus the space used for specialized programs. The 2002-03 enrollment is 2,108, up from 2,044 in 2001-02. Enrollment at EHS is projected to be 2,176 in 2003-04 and is expected to reach 2,475 by 2007-08. According to Currie, the school currently has six bathroom stalls for each gender. All schools are recommended for a communication upgrade to a fiber optic network, costing $207,000 per school. According to Director of Finance Ray Queener, the fiber optic network will replace 41 existing T1 lines while enhancing the bandwidth. According to Queener, access time is dependent on bandwidth. The report also recommends the removal of all portable classrooms in the district for safety and security purposes. Board Member Jackie Magnuson said she wondered when the cities would declare some of the portables non-compliant with building codes because they are aging. She said they were intended for temporary use and should not be in service ì20 years later.î The $97.97 million price tag would bring all schools up to district standards. The standards were set using state standards, an analysis of ìevery classroom in the districtî and program needs, according to Currie. Once a guideline was set, the district subtracted 15 percent to determine what is acceptable. ìAt one time, we probably had close to $300 million worth of projects,î said Haro. Haro said the requests were narrowed to approximately $126 million and his office trimmed it to the $97.96 million in the final report. ìI know $97 million still sounds like a lot of money, but this is a huge district,î said Haro. ìWe tried to do what we absolutely needed.î Endler said he knows the district will hear from people who think the report is incomplete and needs to include more, and that they will hear from ìthose who think we should not spend a nickel on anything ever again.î ìI really need to hear from people in the middle,î he said. Board Member Judy Lindsay asked if the administration had a plan to deal with the ìequity issue.î Lindsay said several schools have received amenities through fund-raising and she was concerned that once a school or two obtained something, the district would then install the item in all other schools. According to Haro, this is the first time the administration has ever looked at the issue of equity and they are responding to requests made in the April Dialogues. According to Haro, if the report as it stands were to be approved as a bond, the tax increase on a $200,000 home would be $13 ìand some changeî per month or roughly $165 per year. © Thisweek Newspapers |
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