CCP 02-18-2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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erAQ: If the District is experiencing declining enrollment, why is it adding on to its buildings? Why is the District building gyms when there are so many other critical needs? Construction underway is the result of a successful bond referendum in May 1999. Prior to that vote, a committee of citizens reviewed the District's needs and established priorities jor the use of bond monies. The vast majority of bond dollars are being spent on improving indoor air quality, enhancing sajety, and addressing dejerred maintenance issues. When the planning jor the bond was done back in 1997.98, several jacility studies were conducted. One was an athletic jacility study, done in partnership with the municipalities. The idea is that through joint planning and cooperation, we all may be able to save taxpayers some money by avoiding duplication oj jacilities. One oj the greatest needs identijied in the study was for more gymnasium space. Thus, we committed to adding gym space at Island Lake and Highview because we were able to secure substantial financial contributions from Shoreview and New Brighton, respectively. So, those gyms are partly paid for and used by the school district and partly by the city in which it is located. I think this is a great model of cooperation and efficiency in addressing community and school needs. - As of this moment, the school district leases about 64,500 square feet of space at an annual cost of $1.24 million. The space is in churches, office parks, retail areas, and community centers. It is used for a variety of programs such as ECFE and our Alternative Learning Center. One possibility is that as room becomes available in our schools, programs now in leased space can be brought back, thus saving taxpayers money. Another possibility is that extra space could be used to house portions of our central office operation so that the DSC can be eliminated and sold. Presently, we have five task jorces working on a variety of issues, all related to our budget next year. To date, two of the five have completed their work and have reported. The remaining groups will report by the end of January. The administrations task, then, will be to synthesize task force findings and develop an integrated recommendation to the School Board. A firm direction for the use of space will be a part oj that recommendation. .