Waconia school district to pursue major facilities project

In this rendering provided by the district, one can see how the plan affects Clearwater, including additions to the building, new athletic fields (the tennis courts are represented by the 10 blocks in the upper right), and campus access to Highway 5.

In contrast to the storms outside, a calm discussion regarding Waconia Public Schools facilities occurred inside the Education Service Center during a special Waconia School Board meeting on Monday, June 16.

At the meeting, the board detailed a plan to address the districts ever-increasing enrollment and the resulting strain that growth has put on district facilities. In 15 years, the district has about doubled from 1,843 students in 1998-99 to 3,681 students this past year. The district expects to reach 4,000 students by 2016-17.

The plan includes several major components, including the construction of a new elementary school, additions/improvements to existing facilities, new athletic fields, land acquisition, and other aspects.

The estimated cost of the project is currently $74 million. However, if the board can lower that cost to $72 million, the project could be financed through a tax neutral model, meaning taxpayers would not see any increase in the school taxes they are currently paying, at least when it comes to taxes related to facilities/fields. The debt load of the project would be spread out over 23 years.

The board did acknowledge that an operating levy to operate the new school would eventually be necessary. The annual cost to operate the new school is estimated to be approximately $350,000 to $500,000.

The plan would require voter approval through a referendum in the general election this November.

Under the plan, the middle school and high school would switch, meaning the Clearwater building would become the high school and the current high school building would turn into the middle school.

To accommodate the switch, a number of additions and improvements would occur at both buildings.

The current high school building would receive a new entrance on the southeast corner of the building along with additional office and learning spaces. The ECFE, ECSE and Kids Company programs would relocate to this new middle school building to free up space at the congested Education Service Center.

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Waconia school district to pursue major facilities project