Superintendent's Report

Five main areas of school need major renovation

 

On May 16, the Minneota School Board passed a resolution calling for a special building bond election to be held on August 22, 2017 at the Minneota Public School. The School Board chose to hold the election in August because, if approved, it would allow them to receive bids before the end of 2017, thus, getting the best bids possible.

If bids were received in 2018, trends typically have shown the prices to be 5-7 percent higher.

There are five main areas of the school building that need major attention:

Elementary School: The elementary school was built in 1950 and expanded in 1961. There have not been any major improvements done to the elementary over the past 65 years.

The major focus of the elementary projects include the following:

•Removal and replacement of all 1950/1961 asbestos flooring in the hallways and classrooms to be compliant with health and safety standards;

•Update of 1950 and 1961 elementary bathrooms. The cast iron plumbing is quickly failing making the bathrooms unusable at times;

•The windows in the classrooms will be updated to provide more natural light and to be more energy efficient; •A new air handler will replace two air handlers that are over 20 years old to provide better air quality and to be health and safety compliant;

•The electrical will be updated to meet 2017 standards and handle the current loads;

•Kindergarten classrooms will be expanded to make use of the adjacent courtyard to provide more needed space for our energetic youngest students;

•Classroom doors will be replaced to provide better security and to meet current codes;

•New energy efficient LED lighting will be installed in the hallways and classrooms.

High School: The high school was built in 1957. There have been no major improvements to the classrooms over the past 60 years.

The proposed projects include the following:

•Removal and replacement of all 1957 asbestos flooring in the hallway and classrooms to be compliant with health and safety standards;

•The windows in the classrooms will be updated to provide more natural light and to be more energy efficient;

•The electrical will be updated to meet 2017 standards and handle the current loads;

•The Family and Consumer Science (Home Economics) room will be expanded into the adjacent courtyard to provide much more needed student space;

•Classroom doors will be replaced to provide better security and to meet current codes.

Gymnasiums: The 1957 gym (competition gym) 2003 (practice gym/lunchroom):

•Both gyms will be repainted;

•The competition gym walls will be resurfaced in areas;

•Both gyms will receive energy efficient LED lighting;

•The acoustic panels in the practice gym will be replaced with up-to-date panels.

Locker Rooms: The locker rooms were built in 1957. There have been no major improvements to these over the past 60 years.

The proposed improvements include the following:

•Removal of all failing 60 year old cast iron plumbing;

•New lockers will be added to help with the shortage of lockers;

•New privacy showers will be installed;

•New fixtures will replace 60 year old fixtures;

•The existing changing room will be adapted into a visitor’s/junior high locker room to accommodate our junior high PE students and visiting teams;

•An air handler will be added for air quality to be compliant with health and safety standards (The locker rooms currently have NO ventilation system installed).

Outside: The School Board would like to add several improvements to the outside:

•Clean up the outside courtyard from all debris and garbage;

•Install lighting along the Monroe Street school sidewalk from the parking lot to Fifth Street to provide a safer walking path for people;

•Build a new shelter for our vehicles to be protected from the weather and to provide some much-needed storage space.

The School Board narrowed the scope of the bond to focus on those items they deemed necessary to properly maintain our building. The total request of the bond for the projects listed above will not exceed 5.25 million dollars.

The School Board will be scheduling several town hall meeting dates in July and August to allow people to come to the school and look at the areas being proposed for improvement. We hope each of you will take the opportunity to familiarize yourself with the scope of the project.

Also at these meetings the projected tax impact will be shared along with a question and answer session. We will also be adding information on this proposal to our website and Facebook pages.

As always, I want to thank each of you for your support of our school district!

Supt. Dan Deitte

Contact Us

The Minneota Mascot
Address: 201 N. Jefferson
Minneota, MN 56264

Phone:(507) 872-6492