Two initial options presented to Arcadia board for facilities referendum ask

For the first time, cost estimates and specific improvements for a possible facilities referendum in the Arcadia School District were presented at a special school board meeting last week.

The school board asked vendors to continue investigating a possible project worth about $39.3 million that would see the addition of a new intermediate school building for grades three-to-five as well as about $7 million in upgrades to the current elementary school.

The number would max out the district in terms of how much debt they are allowed to take on under the state’s funding formula but by the time the borrowing actually happened they will have paid off more debt and their valuation will have grown. Lisa Voisin, a public finance banker from Robert W. Baird & Co., estimated the district would be close to maxed out on debt but didn’t have an exact percentage for how much of their debt allowance would be left.

Last week’s meeting was strictly informational and was attended by less than a handful of residents. A referendum was not voted on by the board, but they did ask the vendors to proceed with information gathering for such a project over another proposal that would have been strictly a remodel of the current elementary school.

Estimates presented to the board showed an intermediate school addition would add about 72,000 square feet to the district and house between 400 and 450 more students. When coupled with remodels — mechanical and bathroom upgrades as well as converting the existing lunch room and locker rooms into classrooms — to the current elementary school building, the district could house up to about 1,200 students from early childhood to fifth grade.

The goal was to create space for a student population that continues to grow and is set to boon even further with more housing coming to the district, Megan Prestebak with Miron Construction told the board. Miron Construction presented alongside Voisin, architecture/engineering firm HSR Associates and survey company School Perceptions.

“We as a group felt comfortable bringing these two options to you because we feel like it’s addressing your capacity concerns and planning for the future. You’re still within a reasonable limit, within the industry standard and you’re maximizing your space in both of these options. We’re not adding additional capacity more than you would need,” Prestebak said.

Board member Dana Conrad asked about future high school space issues with growing residential developments if they are having to address the elementary school now, and Superintendent Lance Bagstad said one idea is the district could operate the school similar to a college campus where teachers travel for each class period instead of having set classrooms to save space.

“We don’t necessarily know where all this growth is going to come. It could be all the kids come and the majority are high school kids, and we’re going to fill up fast,” Conrad said.

The second referendum option presented to the board featured no new buildings and instead would have featured a “comprehensive remodel” of the current elementary space, including a 40,000 square foot addition with new fourth and fifth grade classrooms, a gymnasium, art room and other support spaces. Option two was projected to cost slightly more, around $39.4 million, which led multiple board members to say they preferred considering a new space if remodeling the current school was for similar cost.

The options arose from looking at what the district needed and then cutting down based on square footage and price increase allowable with the district’s budget constraints, Bagstad said. One option that saw a brand new elementary school for preschool through fifth grade at the high school complex was quickly eliminated after early estimates showed a cost of about $75-80 million, he told the board.

Possible Tax Impacts 

And Next Steps

Board member Brian Steinlicht asked the vendors to share what they could accomplish without raising taxes. That would require an ask of about $25-30 million but wouldn’t solve most of the district’s problems, Bagstad said, to which Steinlicht responded that he believes the district should go through the process to at least see what can be done with that money and share that with the community also.

If the proposed referendum were to pass, the tax bill of an owner of a $100,000 home would increase $42 per year — or $3.50 a month — on the mill rate, according to data presented at the meeting.

A vote to proceed with a referendum ask in 2023 would need to happen in January in order for the board to be within state statutes and get a question on the ballot for next April. As a result, the board also discussed next steps for a community survey through School Perceptions, which they approved at their May meeting.

The survey would likely be open in late October and early November for about two weeks, said Rob DeMeuse with School Perceptions. They would need a response percentage rate at least in the teens to get an accurate result, he said.

This timeline would give the board enough time to consider a referendum ask before the January timeline, he said.