Angry parents walked out of the South Washington County School Board meeting Thursday night after board members approved a plan that calls for the closure of Newport Elementary School.
Board members voted 6-1 to approve a controversial 10-year facility package that district officials say is needed to address overcrowding, future growth and student needs. Board member Eric Tessmer was the lone dissenting vote.
The board unanimously approved a resolution to have a $462 million bond referendum presented to voters via a special election Aug. 9. If passed, the referendum would be the largest ever school referendum approved in Minnesota.
The school district’s plan has come under fire recently because it calls for the closure of Newport Elementary, the most diverse school in the district. The plan is for Newport to become an early-learning center.
SURGE IN STUDENTS SEEN
Assistant Superintendent Kristine Schaefer, who presented the plan to the board, said the district expects a surge in students over the next decade. Within 10 years, she said, the school district projects 8,000 new homes, 3,500 new students and 15 schools over capacity.
Many of the proposed improvements are to take place at the district’s three high schools — East Ridge, Woodbury and Park. Among the items on the punch list: construction of classroom additions; expansion of cafeterias and kitchens; creation of multipurpose space for online learning; renovation of Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) spaces, and site redesigns at Park and Woodbury high schools to improve traffic flow and increase
Plans also call for a new Pine Hill Elementary School building to be built on site in Cottage Grove. At the current school, which was built in the 1960s, staff have had to turn a closet into a makeshift occupational therapy space, Schaefer said. Only two bathrooms serve the entire school, she said.
Under the plan, South Washington Alternative High School would be moved to the current Crestview Elementary building in Cottage Grove. Plans call for a new Crestview Elementary building to be built at a central district location. A new District Service Center would be built on the new Crestview Elementary campus to consolidate support staff, community education, enrollment services and space for meetings and professional development, Schaefer said.
If the bond referendum passes, district officials said the owners of a home worth $300,000, the price of the average home in the district, could expect to pay an additional $23 in property taxes a month, or $280 more a year.
In 2015, voters in the district approved construction funding for a new middle school, which opened as Oltman Middle School in 2018, but rejected plans for improvements to the high schools and several elementary schools. More recently, the facility-planning process was put on hold for one year because of the pandemic. The process restarted in March 2021.
Board members did not comment on the plan other than a brief introductory comment from board Chairwoman Sharon Van Leer
“This has been a very comprehensive process over the course of four years,” Van Leer said. “We have had the opportunity to ask questions and get collaboration and get clarification throughout this entire process.”