Getting serious on need for new elementary school
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
While the end of the 2017-18 school year is just around the corner, the McKenzie County Public School District No. 1 School Board has its eyes firmly set on how they are going to meet the challenges of anticipated student growth numbers in the coming years.
And that means taking a hard look at when a new elementary school is going to become a reality, deciding how to most efficiently fit more students into the three existing school buildings, and making sure that they have enough teachers.
During its monthly meeting on Monday, May 16, the board decided to solicit for additional properties to build a new elementary school.
“The Holm family has donated 15 acres of land in the Homestead subdivision for the new elementary school,” stated Steve Holen, district superintendent. “But we are concerned with the additional infrastructure costs associated with street improvements on that property.”
According to Holen, the estimated cost to create 10th Ave. and 8th Street to serve the new school would be around $2.66 million.
“The Holm family is committed to paying the cost for 10th Ave., which is estimated to cost $1.15 million, but that still leaves the district with a $1.51 million cost to construct 8th Street,” stated Holen. “We, as a district, would prefer not to have those infrastructure costs. We’d rather focus on the building costs.”
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