Lakeview seeks elbow room in school addition vote

COTTONWOOD - In the 12 years since it was built, a lot has changed at Lakeview School. One of the biggest and most pressing changes, school officials said Sunday, is that student enrollment has started to outgrow the building. Lakeview's never needed a waiting list for preschool registration until now, Superintendent Chris Fenske said.

"It's a good problem to have, but at the same time we don't want to turn families away," Fenske said to an audience of about 50 area community members on Sunday night.

To help address those needs, the Lakeview School District is considering building a 27,000 square-foot addition to the school building, and remodeling several existing classrooms and offices. The building proposal will go before the public in a special election on May 13. Sunday's meeting was the first of three public information sessions the school district is holding before the vote.

One of the major features of the proposed building project would be an addition including preschool and elementary-level classrooms, a gymnasium and space for community education. More than 11,000 square feet of the existing school would also be remodeled, to offer expanded space for special education classrooms and reconfigured school offices.

The parking would also be expanded to allow more space for event parking, said Jeri Fink of architectural firm Wendel.

Under the proposed building plans, both the elementary and secondary school offices would be relocated closer to the school's main entrances. This would help staff screen visitors and provide better security for the school, Fink said.

If approved, the cost of the building addition would be paid for through a $7.98 million bond, with a term of 19.5 years, said a representative of financial consulting group Ehlers. The bond would mean a property tax increase for taxpayers in the school district. In one example, for a residential property valued at $100,000, it was estimated that property taxes would increase about $47 in 2015.

Speakers said it was more complicated to try and estimate the bond's tax impact on non-homestead agricultural land. However, a property tax calculator tool is available at the Lakeview School district website, along with other information on the proposed building addition.

Fenske said the proposed school addition is the end result of months of study, as well as input from community members who served on a building task force.

"The school board has been very clear that it wanted the process to include the community, be community-driven, and be transparent," Fenske said. The task force identified several priorities for a building project, including school security, adequate educational space, flexibility, and community use.

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Lakeview seeks elbow room in school addition vote