Robust and Community Focused
We’ve been talking about facility upgrades for eight years, and the process incorporated community members as much as possible. This timeline has the highlights, with much more detailed information about the process below.
|
Soon after the successful election, in 2014 the district completed a comprehensive facility study and approved a number of projects at both the high school and elementary school which were executed over the next two years. In assessing the future of the district, the ISD 846 School Board elected to implement more improvements at the high school (1969 construction) as the facility would benefit from infrastructure upgrades. However, as the elementary showed more need (1934, 1949, 1957, 1996, 1998 build years), the district made a calculated decision to only address the highest priorities with a plan to re-evaluate in the next 5-10 years for either further investment or replacement.
Over the course of the last few years, we held an extensive process to identify facility needs and possible solutions. The process taken on by our board and administration was extensive, and included input from our teachers, staff, students, community as well as city and county officials. Our district's needs were identified from a comprehensive facility assessment developed by industry experts in their respective fields. In anticipation of the current Operating Levy expiring, the ISD 846 School Board, staying true to its commitment, gave approval in 2019 for district administrators to work with consultants and financial advisors to revisit the 2014 comprehensive facility study and walk through another process to identify both current facilities challenges and operating needs. The following facility vision was established to help guide and frame discussion throughout the process: “The Breckenridge Public School facility vision is to provide a student-focused, innovative educational environment for our future learners." The planning process included:
The school board then identified priorities in deficiencies that required attention and reviewed solutions and potential project options including renovations, adding on to existing buildings, and building a single site campus. At the end of our planning process, we were approached by a community non-profit called the Breckenridge Infinity Group with a proposal to co-locate a new school with a community center on the north side of town. This district is considering this as a preferred location, where the district would purchase a minimum of 50 acres adjacent to the St. Francis Medical Center, potentially creating a local campus of a community center, new homes and our PreK-12 facility. This development, known as the “North Port Development” is a funded Richland Wilkin Joint Powers Authority (RWJPA) housing program that involves developing 5-10 homes a year in Breckenridge until the market is saturated. While this site is not ideal for student walking or biking, transportation will be provided for those students. The district would have a central location(s) in town where kids could ride their bike or skateboard or walk and a bus would bring them to the new site if it is north of town. Walking and biking trails, a potential frontage road as well as over or under passes are also being explored with our city. This site would allow more green space for all of our students and also drive housing for the city of Breckenridge, which could potentially mean more kids for our district. See the Planning Project Overview for more details on which options were considered. |
Survey Says:
|
