St. Peter School District voters are invited to the polls April 9 to cast ballots on the St. Peter Middle School building referendum question.
Early voting continues through April 8. Those who plan on voting early can either vote by absentee ballot or in-person by visiting the Nicollet County Auditor’s Office.
Starting Feb. 23, district residents have been able to vote via absentee ballot or in-person at the Nicollet County Auditor’s Office on the $10 million proposal to refurbish the St. Peter Middle School.
The proposed repairs are timed to take place, as the middle school undergoes a full replacement of its malfunctioning HVAC system. With the $23.3 million overhaul of the building’s aging utilities approved by the School Board in December, the district has proposed using an extra $10 million, with voter approval, to address other challenges stemming from the middle school’s 65-year-old facilities.
Chief among the district’s priorities is refurbishing the core classrooms with new paint and flooring to create a consistent, modernized aesthetic throughout the building. Classrooms will also be remodeled with additional storage space in mind. The improvements would cover 34,000 square feet of classroom space at a cost of $1.6 million.
Chief among the district’s priorities is refurbishing the core classrooms with new paint and flooring to create a consistent, modernized aesthetic throughout the building. Classrooms will also be remodeled with additional storage space in mind. The improvements would cover 34,000 square feet of classroom space at a cost of $1.6 million.
Referendum dollars would also facilitate upgrades to the middle school’s art and science classes with infrastructure like additional electrical outlets to open up additional opportunities for technology use. The art room would be equipped with a new kiln and sink while the biology and physical science classrooms would have collaborative learning spaces replace the stationary learning labs.
In addition, acoustic panels would be added to the walls of the small gymnasium to reduce noise.
Many of the school’s existing windows susceptible to leaks during rain, snow and ice melts would be repaired and replaced to ease the burden on the HVAC system and decrease the risk of further water damage.
Corridors on all three floors of the building would be refurbished with new flooring and paint, similar to the classrooms, and a new stairwell would be constructed on the west side of the building, near the makerspace on the first floor.
The new stairwell, running up to the third floor, would allow middle school students to quickly travel between all floors of the building without disrupting classes in the early childhood wing, where the middle school’s current stairwell sits. During the school day, students are not allowed to use the main stairwell in the early childhood wing to prevent classroom disruptions, but this comes at the cost of bottlenecking student traffic.
Referendum dollars would also be used for upgrading the second and third floor bathrooms to be disability accessible and add single occupancy, gender neutral bathrooms on each level.
Should the referendum fail to pass, the district has stated the proposed repairs would be deferred to a later date, which would likely increase the costs of implementation.
The median owner of a residential property valued at $225,000 would see their annual tax bill increase by $66 if the $10 million referendum is a success, according to district projections. The associated levy would be payable over a period of 20 years or when the bond is paid off, whichever happens sooner.
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