News

District holds second public forum

By Scott Wagar

07/30/2013

The Bottineau School District held its second public meeting on its Facilities Master Plan on July 24 and reviewed the Master Plan options, the July 10 survey results of which options the general public was most interested in and defined the proposed construction cost and its tax implications.  
Matt Johnson of Wold Engineer, who is also a school board member, started the evening by reviewing the six options the Bottineau School Board members chose as their structural preferences, along with the pros and cons of each edifice.

OPTION 1

Option 1 consists of moving grades PreK-2 to the current high school site and placed a 32,326 square feet addition to the south side of the building for the elementary students. The high school, which has 28,835 square feet, would also see renovations, which includes improvements to the science labs. (All six plans call for science lab improvements in the high school).

•  Pros: Better logistics for staff, upgrade technology, no portable buildings, one kitchen for all grades, rooms grouped by subject, decreased operations costs, single story building, utilizes existing district property, addresses deficiencies in existing building, opportunity to sell Central School and single drop off point for buses.   
•  Cons: No room for future growth, lack of overall parking, playground too small, one library for K-12, traffic congestion in hallways, long travel distances (between gym, library, cafeteria, etc…), principal too far from majority of students, many interior rooms with no windows, no room for Pre-K and close to grain elevators and propane facility.

OPTION 2

Option 2 consists of constructing a new two story PreK-5 building on the south end of the fairgrounds where the school district’s practice fields are located with added renovations or additions to the existing building. The new structure would be 56,854 square feet.

•  Pros: New facility, better logistics for staff, more room at the high school, adequate parking and pickup/drop-off areas, elementary and high school are separated, adequate playground space, secure administration area, secure administration area, adequate lunch room space, no portable buildings, new gymnasium, adequate storage and room for expansion.
•  Cons: Loss of communication across all grades, transporting food from the high school, does not address inadequacies at the high school, may require additional staff to operate and decrease staff and utility efficiencies.  

OPTION 3

Option 3 consists of razing the present day Central School and constructing a new two story PreK-5 school building which will have 56,584 square feet.

•  Pros: More classroom space, new facility, no portable buildings, use current building during construction, uses district property, more room at the high school, new gym and lunch room and upgraded technology.
•  Cons: Doesn’t address parking/drop-off concerns, parking and drop-off concerns magnified by adding staff and students, two story building, inadequate play area, loss of communication across all grades, construction during the school year, may require additional staff to operate, some staff may still travel, decreased staff and utility efficiencies and costly to remodel existing structure.  

OPTION 4

Option 4 consists of keeping the current Central School building, while adding on a three story addition which will hold 44,450 square feet. The structure would hold grades PreK-5.

•  Pros: PreK-5 configuration, better logistics for staff, reuse portion of existing building, new gym and lunch room, more room at high school, elementary and high school are separated, utilizes district property and upgrades in technology.
•  Cons: Doesn’t address parking/drop-off concerns, parking and drop-off concerns magnified by adding staff and students, inadequate play area, loss of communication across all grades, transporting food from high school, may require additional staff to operate, some staff may still travel, decreased staff and utility efficiencies and existing building exterior in poor condition.

OPTION 5

Option 5 consists of constructing a new PreK-5 school building on the east side of town in a new development area that will be 60,634 square feet.

•  Pros: New facility, PreK-5 configuration (which grant gym, kitchen, multipurpose room, art room), better logistics for staff, resolves parking/drop off issues, more room at high school, provides adequate play area, upgrades in technology, located in new development area, provides for future expansion and opportunity to sell Central east side.
•  Cons: Added cost for land, distance between buildings, more costly than other options, requires staff to travel, loss of communication across all grades and does not address updates to existing high school.

OPTION 6

Option 6 consists of leaving the Central School status quo and adding on a two story addition to the west side of the existing structure that will be 6,650 square feet.

•  Pros: Any renovation would be welcome, upgrade could be done over a period of time and lowest cost
•  Cons: Doesn’t address parking/drop off concerns, inadequate play areas, lack of rooms at Central School, not a secure lobby, still have accessibility issues, still transporting food, question the ability to meet educational standards, doesn’t address future growth and doesn’t provide proper learning environment for students.

Johnson added that the Master Plan was established because of an increase in recent enrollment in the school district, and that it was discovered the schools in Bottineau had fire dangers, lacked proper fire escape routes and fire sprinklers and have come up short in meeting ADA requirements. He stated that Central School received a grade of a D minus, while the middle, junior high and senior schools where given a C plus rating.
 

SURVEY RESULTS

When it came to the July 10 survey results on the school district, Johnson stated that 40 surveys were filled out by the community with the following results:

•  When it came to the ideal length of time for a temporary portable class room, over 25 of the surveyors stated zero to fives years. The remainder stated any were between five to 15 plus years.
•  When it came to Central School, in its current condition, would it be a viable grade school facility, over 30 individuals stated “no”, while the remainder stated yes.
•  When it came to the substantial growth in Bottineau over the last couple of years, on a scale of 1 to 10, surveyors where asked what their confidence level was in substantial growth, they gave an average of 6.35 with a median of 6, or long term sustain growth.  
•  When it came to most desirable education model for Bottineau’s Public Schools, over 34 surveyors stated that they wanted K-5 in an elementary school setting, 6-8 in middle school and 9-12 in high school.
•  When it came to the ideal capacity for an elementary school classroom, 18 students were ranked highest, while 15 students ranked second, 20 students ranked third and 23 students fourth.
•  When it came to which were the three best options for a school building, Option 5 received the most votes with 22 votes, followed by Option 1 with 9 votes and then Option 2 with the third most votes.

COST

Doug Larson of JLG Architects in Minot, N.D., who has designed the six options for the Bottineau School District, presented to the public the cost of each option, which included:

•  Option 1 - $15,146,559
•  Option 2 - $18,285,601
•  Option 3 - $17,785,601
•  Option 4 - $18,611,950
•  Option 5 - $19,615,601
•  Option 6 - $6,323,861

TAX IMPLICATIONS

The next step in the public forum was to discuss the projected tax implications.

Larson pointed out that for Option 1, at a cost of $15,146,559, with an approximate tax impact base on $100,000, at its true and full value, residential and agricultural/commercial property for the 2013 fiscal year would need a required 43.48 mills. Option 2 would need a required 52.46 mills at its cost, while Option 5 would need 56.25 mills.

Option 1
 
When it comes to Option 1, at a 3.75 percent interest rate, residential taxes are expected to increase by $195.67, while agricultural/commercial taxes are estimated to go up to $217.41.

At a two percent interest rate, which is where the current interest rate is at the moment, residential taxes are expected to go up $166.37 and agricultural/commercial taxes to $184.86.

Option 2

In Option 2, at 3.75 percent, residential taxes are estimated to go up $236.07 and agricultural/commercial taxes up $262.30.

At a two percent interest rate, residential taxes are expected to increase $200.85 and agricultural/commercial up $223.17.

Option 5
 
In Option 5, at 3.75 percent interest rate, residential taxes are expected to go up $253.14 and agricultural/commercial would increase to $281.27.

At 2 percent interest, residential taxes are estimated to go up $215.46 and agricultural/commercial taxes up $239.40

REFERENDUM VOTE

Larson also explained that that when it comes to referendum vote on mills and taxes, in order for an option to pass, it will need 60 percent approval from the public.

He also stated that the dollar amount for the school district debt limit is constitutionally limited to five percent of assessed valuation. At the current Bottineau School District debt limit, it is:

•  School district assessed valuation ($283,962,691) x 5 = $14,198,134 debt limit
•  Less current school district debt = $1,150,000
•  Remaining debt limit = $13,048,134  

If the referendum is approved, the additional mill levy would be utilized each year to make the bond payments.

Larson added that as local property valuation increases, the number of mills required to service that debt would decrease.

“What are we voting for then? We’re voting to increase the debt limit for Bottineau Public School District from 5 percent to 10 percent because as you saw most of these projects are above what there current debt limit is,” Larson said. “The second part of the referendum vote, once the school board of education endorses one of these plans, is to vote yes or no in going forward with that.”

TIMELINE

At the end of the meeting, the school board showed a timeline, which showed that at the end of July, Bottineau’s school board would endorse a specific planning option, present it to the community and form a community task force by early August.

If necessary, a third public forum on the Master Plan would be held in mid-August. However, the plan is to spread the word on the chosen option with a potential voting day either in early October or November.

If the option is approved, the school board members plan to start breaking ground in the spring of 2014 with a 16 to 24 months construction period.

SURVEY 2

There was a second survey at the end of the meeting which requested those in attendance to rank the top two preferred options (with one being the best) for the Bottineau Public School District.

The other question was what the best configuration for a school district the size of the Bottineau Public School District. A) Separate facilities for Pre-K thru 5 and 6 through 12, or B) a single Pre-K thru 12 grade facility. Individuals, can fill out the first and second survey by going to www.bottineau.k12.nd.us/facilities-master-plan/. At the site, individuals will see the links to the two surveys.

REQUEST

Kersten ended the meeting by asking those in attendance to spread the word about the Master Plan to the community. There is some concern by the school district because in the first meeting there were just over 30 people in attendance, which were primarily made up of school board members, school faculty and staff, media and a small number of individuals from the community.

On July 24 meeting, the number was closer to 40, with the same primary individuals in attendance, along with around a dozen parents who have children in the school district.

Kersten, and the school board, are requesting that parents of school children and the residents of Bottineau, fill out the surveys, or grant their opinion on the Master Plan, so they can have a better idea of what the parents of school children, and the community, would like to see for the future of the school district.  

Writer’s Note: It should be noted here that Matt Johnson stated that for each option there is a complete list of the pros and cons that can be seen on the school website at www.bottineau.k12.nd.us/2013/07/11/pros-and-cons-of-facilities-options/. In this article, the Bottineau Courant published just the pros and cons which were presented at the July 24 public presentation.

Individuals, who could not attend the public forum on July 24, the forum and slide show can be seen at http://www.bottineau.k12.nd.us/facilities-master-plan/.