News

BPS hosts third public forum on school improvement

By Tyler Ohmann

09/24/2013

The Bottineau Public Schools (BPS) hosted their third public forum on constructing a new elementary school and other school improvements this past Wednesday evening at the Holwell Auditorium.

At 7 p.m. approximately 60 people, mostly school teachers, administrators and school board members and some community members met to discuss further and more specifically the plans to improve the school and build an elementary school east of Bottineau.

Superintendent of BPS Jason Kersten began the forum by presenting a slide show to those present about the advancements that the school board has made in the potential project, which will go to a vote on Nov. 5.

“I believe tonight’s forum is important for everyone in the community,” Kersten said. “This is not just a school building project, it’s a community project.”

“I think it’s something that is an investment,” Kersten added.

Kersten went through 10 reasons why the option of building a new school east of town was chosen. A full list of those reasons as well as much more information on the project is available on the BPS website at www.bottineau.k12.nd.us and selecting the facilities master plan tab.

The two questions on the ballot on Nov. 5 will be one, the approval of the $18.9 million bond to construct the new elementary school and improve the junior/senior high science labs, and two, to increase the debt limit of the district from five to 10 percent.

A 60 percent majority will be needed to pass the first question and a simple majority is needed for the second question to pass.

Kersten explained also that the school board approved putting an $18.9 million bond on the ballot on Nov. 5. He stated that the $18.9 million price tag is an estimate, and that the school district would pick up any extra costs over that number, which is why the second ballot question was added.

Kersten announced that the school had recently learned and then applied for a $10 million, low interest loan (between one and two percent) from the state, which will help lower the burden on tax payers.

This combined with the rest of the bond left an approximate interest of 2.63 percent and the estimated mills needed was 51.32 to complete the projects.

He went through numbers explaining how to calculate what the potential tax burden will be for property owners.

To calculate the tax impact for a residential owner they would take their property’s taxable value x No. of Mills x .001 to get the cost.
To determine one’s taxable value for residential one takes the True and Full Value x .5 x .9 percent = Taxable Value.

For agricultural or commercial property the percentage increases from nine to 10 percent in the first formula.

Kersten, along with Doug Larson of JLG Architects of Minot, then displayed a more detailed plan of the elementary school, including an overhead view of its potential location.

They explained the three-section nature of the school, which will keep the kindergarten and first grade in one section, second and third in one section and fourth and fifth in another of the semi-closed off sections of the school.

Another thing that Kersten emphasized was that the offices will be located right inside the main entrance of the school.

Many questions were brought up about the 57,000 square foot plan and the 10 acres of land that it will sit on, including why not purchase more land now for further expansion.

Both Kersten and board member Matt Johnson explained that this was the most economical route that would still allow for expansion if necessary.

Crowd members inquired how the school plans to get the word out for people to vote yes in the election, but Johnson stated it is not their place to push for a yes vote, but to simply inform the voters of their options.

“For those who want to help out there is a committee for that, but us as a school board and a school district that is not our role,” Johnson said. “Our role is to get you the facts, and let everybody vote how they’re going to vote, but it would be nice to see this room full of people getting the facts, instead of not hearing the facts.”

“The more people everybody can talk to and get these facts out to the better, no matter if they vote against it or not, at least they know the costs associated with it and what the project is,” Johnson added.

Another potential cost-saver was brought up by Al Wondrasek, a community member in attendance. Wondrasek provided Kersten and others with a letter to the editor he found some weeks ago in the Minot Daily News. In the letter it talks about a fund that each township in the state has that gives money toward education. It also stated that Williston planned on taking the state to court to obtain that money to improve their schools, but the state ceded the money before it made it to court. Wondrasek posed the question whether or not the school had attempted to procure funds through this avenue.

Kersten told Wondrasek that he had not heard of this, but would look into it.

Lastly a question was posed as to what would happen if the questions on the ballot were to fail.

“If it doesn’t pass, we are going to try and figure out why it didn’t pass,” Kersten said. “Find out if it is a money issue, an issue with the plan in general and reevaluate it and look to possibly come back in June during our school elections.”

“I think everybody agrees that something needs to be done, but it’s just about making a decision, but I also think that the longer we wait, the more expensive it could possibly get,” Kersten added.

Kersten also mentioned that absentee ballots are now available by visiting the schools website, by stopping at the school between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday or by calling the school at (701) 228-2266 and requesting one to be mailed.

Those eligible to vote are any eligible voter within the BPS district for at least 30 days. Voters are required to show identification at the polls in order to vote.