School district’s proposed construction projects approved by Minnesota Department of Education
September 23, 2015
Moorhead Area Public Schools received approval in August from the Minnesota Department of Education for its proposed construction project. The Moorhead School Board accepted the review and comment statement at the Sept. 14 meeting.
According to the Review and Comment Statement, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education judges the proposed construction projects to be educationally and economically advisable.
“This is good news. The positive Review and Comment from the Department of Education reinforces the work done last year by the Facilities Master Planning Task Force,” said Dr. Lynne Kovash, superintendent.
The $78.2 million in proposed construction projects are designed to improve security and safety at school entrances, reintegrate kindergarten back into the elementary school sites with additional kindergarten classrooms to accommodate all-day kindergarten, restore flexible learning spaces that have been lost the past few years, and add needed space to address the district’s growing elementary and middle school student population.
Over the past two years the district has added more than 540 students, mostly elementary students. The district added all-day kindergarten beginning in 2013 and this year, for the third year in a row, surpassed 500 kindergarten students on the first day. There are 576 students enrolled in kindergarten this year, compared to 506 kindergarten students enrolled last year opening day. Last year’s kindergarten class has become the second largest grade in the district at 523 students.
The district’s K-8 schools are over capacity, and more growth is projected over the next several years, Kovash said.
The district’s proposed projects to address growth and learning include:
• Construction of a K-4 elementary school with a capacity of 750 students. The elementary school would be built on land to be purchased in the Horizon Shores area, southeast of Horizon Middle School. The K-4 building would include 106,086 square feet at a cost of $25.6 million.
• Construction of a grades 5-6 school connected to Horizon Middle School to create a middle school campus, including a performing arts center and a secure entrance. The addition to Horizon Middle School includes eight team areas with six classrooms in each (four houses at each grade level). The addition would include 191,380 square feet to serve 1,200 students at an estimated cost of $44.7 million.
• Remodel of existing district buildings to improve the safety and security and remodel of existing elementary schools to restore flexible learning environments. The renovation projects will cost $7.7 million, which covers the secure entrances at Probstfield and Moorhead High and the three current elementary schools. At the elementary schools, it also includes the remodel of the kindergarten classrooms and restoration of flexible learning spaces.
• Return Probstfield Center for Education to an early childhood and district education center.
A special election is set for Nov. 3. More information about the bond referendum can be found at www.moorheadschools.org/referendum.
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