A 25-member Hills-Beaver Creek School District stakeholder committee recommended building a new elementary school in Beaver Creek along with additions to the secondary school in Hills.
School board members have taken no official action on the committee’s recommendation, waiting for results from a soon-to-be-released districtwide community survey.
Cost estimates will be released at a later date, when the figures for the state’s school building bond agriculture credit will also be available.
The board’s final decision may include a referendum vote in April 2023.
New elementary includes day care facility
With the new elementary school, a day care facility will be included with an expanded outdoor physical education field and playground, a new 60-vehicle parking lot and a bus drop-off loop.
The new building allows for larger classroom spaces based on current enrollment numbers.
The elementary would stay a pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade facility.
Eighty-one percent of the committee members preferred building new instead of investing million to remodel the existing 1955 and 1997 facilities.
Committee examined detailed facility study
Representatives from ATSR, a planning, architectural and engineering firm in Minneapolis, led committee members through the 215-page long-range facility analysis and education adequacy study.
The study examined the physical structure, heating and cooling abilities as well as the state education department’s recommended classroom sizes and other 21st century learning recommendations.
The local committee met four times in late August through September, examining the study fundings before voting on a preferred option that included work at each of the other district building locations.
The committee developed five different improvement scenarios for the elementary school in Beaver Creek, five for the secondary school in Hills, and three for the Hugo Goehle facility in Hills.
Superintendent Todd Holthaus said the committee was adamant that the elementary stays in Beaver Creek.
“The state wants smaller districts to consider a one-campus model,” he said.
However, keeping the elementary school in Beaver Creek had 77 percent support of the group. The proposal of the group to the school board includes:
•a new elementary school built on the current site in Beaver Creek. Costs would include construction, demolition of the current elementary school, and the purchase of five additional acres at the current site.
•moving the bus garage from the Hugo Goehle location (attached to the old high school) to the secondary school, which would receive a new middle school science addition, a new technical education building, a parking lot expansion, and a new secondary gymnasium and locker rooms.
Support among community members was also at 77 percent for building at the secondary school versus improving the Hugo Goehle gymnasium (built in 1955) and locker room facility (built in 2004).
•demolish the old high school and gravel the building site.
Support among community members for this option is also 77 percent.
In-depth facility study began in 2020
Minnesota school districts annually submit a long-term facilities maintenance report to the State of Minnesota. The report details which capital improvements are planned for the next 10 years.
H-BC’s levy allows an average of $145,000 for maintaining or upgrading the grounds or the school buildings.
“We are seeing some inefficiencies and deficiencies among our buildings and with some education delivery that at some point need to be addressed,” said Superintendent Holthaus.
“There is not an urgency, but we need to start the process.”
In 2020 ICS Builds of Sioux Falls completed a preliminary review of the elementary and secondary schools, and the Hugo-Goehle gymnasium/locker rooms.
The review outlined “urgent” needs (need to be completed within a year), “medium” needs (completed in one to five years) and “low” needs (completed in six to 10 years.)
The report revealed $7.6 million in “urgent” and “medium” needs, primarily in the 1955 section of the elementary school, where the boiler system is reaching the end of its life expectancy and many classrooms are undersized for today’s education delivery.
In late 2021, general contractor R.A. Morton & Associates of St. Cloud looked more closely at the physical building deficiencies and paired with ATSR to further evaluate the district’s buildings, focusing on utilization, educational programming, support spaces, physical building deficiencies and site issues.
The H-BC facilities study was finished in June.
The local stakeholders group was assembled in late August and met four times, most recently on Sept. 22.
At the sessions, led by ATSR, the stakeholders were informed of the strengths and weaknesses of each building, the cost of improvements, and were asked to choose a package that best fit the future needs of the school district.
The committee is made up of city and rural residents from Beaver Creek, Steen and Hills.
Members include Jay Bakken, Jane Blank, Cory Busswitz, Travis Helgeson, Adam Huisman, Randy Krull, Brayden Metzger, Blake Miller, Josh Rheault, Jason Rozeboom, Shannon Tatge, Susan Vis, Dalton Bass, Samantha McGaffee, Rex Metzger, Emily Opheim, Kilee Uittenbogaard, Kirsten Zingler, Mary Kortlever, Steve Wiertzema, Superintendent Todd Holthaus, secondary principal Andrew Kellenberger, and board members Chris Harnack and Ethan Rozeboom.
The committee will convene again once the districtwide community survey is completed.
A copy of the study is available at the H-BC website, www.hbcpatriots.com or click this link https://5il.co/1iv7p