Lakeville Area School District to build three additions – ECM Publishers

Lakeville Area School Board members agreed at a June 4 work session to having three elementary school additions constructed to have them ready to open in the 2021-22 school year.

The three additions at Eastview, JFK and Christina Huddleston elementary schools would accommodate projected student enrollment growth by the time they open and position the district for any possible expansion of prekindergarten offerings.

The additions would be paid for using lease levy funds, which Minnesota districts can use without having to seek voter approval.

The board discussed placing one or more of the school additions onto a future bond referendum to seek land and building costs for a ninth elementary school, but chose to use lease levy in order to expedite the process to accommodate current excess enrollment and future enrollment growth.

Board members were split on the idea of when to seek voter approval for a new elementary school. Some felt that putting a $30 million bond referendum on the ballot in February 2021 would not be in the best interest of the district. The other option presented by administration was for a February 2022 bond referendum, which if successful would have the elementary school opening in fall 2025 instead of a year earlier.

Board Member Bob Erickson said the timing would not be right for seeking taxpayer approval for the bonds in February 2021.

He cited economic uncertainty and expected revenue losses created by the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in tax increases at the state, county and municipal levels.

Erickson said it is possible the Legislature would not change the per pupil funding formula considering the challenges of COVID-19 and the unrest in the Twin Cities, which would leave the district to make up the difference with its annual levy.

In all candor, there is a lot of stress in every organization in the state and in the community, Superintendent Michael Baumann said.

Erickson said one concept the board could consider is placing a question on the November 2020 ballot for land costs only for the new elementary school.

He called that a precursor for success of a bond referendum.

We need to build a new elementary school, Baumann said.

Baumann said having the land nailed down would allow the district to be specific about where the school would be.

Erickson said knowing the location of the school would ensure the success of the referendum.

Additions

This school year the district had 250 unaccommodated students based on its current classroom capacity at the elementary levels.

That deficit is projected to grow to 325 students by 2021-22, despite a new 10-classroom addition to open this fall at Lake Marion Elementary and changing Impact Academy from a whole-school program to an option at Orchard Lake, allowing for more enrollment at the school.

The Lake Marion addition was also funded by lease levy, which can be used by school districts to build additions of less than 20 percent of the original structure.

Lease levy funds use certificates of participation with higher interest rates, but are paid back in fewer years than most general obligation bonds.

Director of Business Services Bill Holmgren said the annual property tax impact for costs to build the three additions would be $34 on the average value home of $370,000 in District 194. That amount is expected to drop each year as the tax base grows over the 15-year life of the certificates of participation.

Baumann said the administrative staff recommended building a five-classroom addition at Eastview and four-classroom additions at both JFK and Christina Huddleston.

That would create space for 364 students and raise enrollment capacities at the schools to 840, 700 and 672, respectively.

Baumann said this would retain the quality and fidelity of the educational experience in District 194.

This past year Lake Marion Elementary School had three-quarters of the Media Center used for classroom space and a conference room was converted to classroom space. Other schools have also converted non-traditional classroom space for regular instruction.

Having three additions avoids a larger number of unaccommodated students before the ninth elementary could be opened.

Baumann called having the three elementary additions a bird in the hand considering the unpredictable nature of the economy.

We have to be as steady as we can, Baumann said.

Holmgren said it would take about 12 months to build the additions, which is why board members shied away from waiting for a possible February 2021 voter approval, since that would mean the additions wouldnt be open until the 2022-23 school year.

Board members will discuss at a future work session when to seek voter approval for the ninth elementary school and whether it would be combined with other future building projects.

Based on housing development and projected population growth in the district to about 90,000 residents in 2030, the district predicts that enrollment will be over 14,000 by 2030.

In order to accommodate the number of students by then, the district says it would need to construct:

Two elementary schools (with plans to accommodate prekindergarten).

One middle school.

One early childhood center.

Two additions and renovations to the high schools or a third high school.

One Area Learning Center.

One maintenance facility.

One district office.

The latter three are all in current spaces that are projected to be replaced. The last two are in leased spaces.

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Lakeville Area School District to build three additions - ECM Publishers