by Peg Craig
Contributing Writer
The St. Michael–Albertville School Board met to call for an election to approve the sale of bonds for district wide projects, to celebrate awards given to two high school teachers and to approve the calendars for the next two school years.
SPECIAL ELECTION
The STMA School Board voted unanimously to hold a special election Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, to allow voters to decide whether or not the school district should issue “general obligation school building bonds in an amount not to exceed $36,100,000.” The election will be at Middle School West. The bonds will be repaid over 15 years.
The Board wants to take advantage of the current low interest rates and the money available from state aid funds which will cover about 60% of the repayment costs. Joel Sutter of Ehlers, Inc., who will be overseeing the bond process, explained how the new bond obligations could be wrapped with current obligations to minimize raising taxes. A growing population in the district will also help spread the tax burden.
The proposed projects reflect the initials of the district: Safety, Technology, Maintenance and Activities. Safety means securing entrances at several buildings. Moving sports venues to the high school campus will reduce student travel and provide access to athletic trainers. Technology funds will be used to replace computers and update the data center. Maintenance spending will improve energy efficiency, add classrooms and repair the Middle School East pool. Activity expenditures will add a covered artificial turf field for year round use by athletic teams and other school and community groups. A new sheet of ice will be added to the hockey arena.
Superintendent Ann-Marie Foucault gave a presentation to the board and said that the last facilities bond was passed in 2005. In the 11 years since that, enrollment has increased 62% and this plan will meet the increased demand for classroom and facility space and allow for continued growth. Unless new classrooms are added, the high school will be at capacity in 2019. The stadium is already too small to hold the fans for homecoming and other large events.
Public meetings regarding the election will be Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 7 p.m. at the West Middle School and Thursday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. at the High School. Additional information on the bond is available on the STMA web site.
TEACHER AWARDS
In other news, the STMA School Board congratulated two high school teachers on recent awards. High School Art teacher Kari Halker has been named Secondary Art Educator of the Year by the Art Educators of Minnesota. Joe Osowski, Director of Choirs at STMA High School, has been named a Conducting Fellow for the 2017 International Conductors Exchange Program of the Americas.
School Board member Jeffrey Lindquist told them, “These awards reflect our commitment to the fine arts. We have an excellent and growing program because of people like you”.
OTHER BUSINESS
Lastly calendars for the school years of 2017-18 and 2018-19 were adopted. The schools will continue to start the academic year immediately after Labor Day and end in early June.
School Board members also approved the hiring of a half time Early Childhood Special Education teacher to meet the needs of a growing population of students with special needs.