• When discussing the options for the facility plan, adding onto Bear Cave was deeply considered. The Facility Team examined the structural feasibility of adding on a "wing" to the building as well as the logistics of increased enrollment at the school with the addition of another grade level, as well as the implications for relocating the early learning programs and district office to Bonner.

• The primary factor limiting this option is that adding onto Bear Cave to take in one grade level doesn't solve the space issues the District has for the PreSchool and Tiger Tot programs and the district office. Moving one grade level to Bear Cave would open up 7 or 8 classrooms at Bonner, which would not be sufficient. We would need approximately 15 rooms for PreSchool and Tiger Tots and another 6 to 8 spaces for the district office. 

• Structurally, Bear Cave Intermediate could be renovated to add another wing with two floors. Logistically, however, adding another entire grade level would not be as easy. The use of the rest of the facility would likely not accommodate an additional 150 students. For example, the spaces used for "specials" including Music and Art are already fully scheduled each day with the current enrollment of 500 students. The addition to the building would have to also include spaces for these classes.  Adding classrooms for Music and Art would not "fit" into a wing and would be problematic in terms of where they could be located. Without increasing the space for Music and Art to accommodate the additional students, the amount of time students are able to have these classes in their schedules would likely need to be reduced.

• For Physical Education, the addition of another grade level would likely result in a decrease in the amount of time that children are in this class. Physical Education is essential for children of this age and we have maximized the amount of time that students are provided with physical activity.

• The current design of the cafeteria at Bear Cave would not allow for more students to be included in the current lunch schedule. An additional grade level of students would need to be scheduled for lunch and recess at 10:30 a.m. or at 1:00 p.m., both of which are either too early or too late in the day for children of this age.

• In summary, considering that moving one grade level to Bear Cave would not provide enough space at Bonner for us to vacate Central and the impact on the logistics for programming at Bear Cave, this option was not pursued by the Facility Committee.

We pride ourselves on being a district families want to enroll in and be part of.  While open enrollment families do not pay local taxes (they pay in their home district), each non-resident student brings their full state aid with them.  

Open enrollment optimizes class size and can be closed if grade levels fill. More students means more state funding.  It costs far less in incremental costs to educate and house open-enrolled students.  

Students from other districts who open-enroll into our schools help to fund our specialty and advanced learning programs, especially at our High School. In order to schedule a course, we need to have at least 15 students enrolled or the course is not offered. Without the additional funding we receive through open enrollment, we would have several courses that would not be able to meet this requirement. As a result, these courses would not be available to any of our students. The school board and administration pay attention to enrollment trends to keep things balanced in order to maintain our budget. We only open enroll students into classrooms that have existing space. The value of the state aid open enrolled students bring provides a surplus for additional programming.  This additional yearly revenue benefits program expansion, upper-level courses, teacher retention, utility costs, and allows us to operate efficiently with optimal class sizes.

• In total, open-enrolled students attending Stewartville Public Schools generate approximately $4 million in revenue each year.

• The School District has had a very preliminary conversation with the Stewartville City Officials regarding the future of the Central Education Center. The District trusts that City Officials would do what is in the best interest of the community in regard to what the building could be used for. In light of this, the District would be interested in working on an agreement that would involve a nominal investment from the City to take ownership of the building. 

• The District does not plan to "hold on" to the building for the foreseeable future. As a last resort, the District would put the building on the market. 

• It would be the intention of the District to apply proceeds gained from the sale of the building for long-term maintenance projects at other sites (ie., maintenance of roofs, parking lots, etc.) and/or applied to the overall bond debt.

Most of the Central Education Center was built in 1963 and is 60 years old (the original structure was built in 1930 and is 93 years old).  Due to the age of the students, building codes allow only 1st/2nd floor use of the building where there is an egress to outside.

Remaining at CEC would require approximately $17,700,000 in immediate infrastructure renovations to address our Preschool and Childcare learning environments and additional $5 million in improvements would be required to create accessible learning spaces necessary for the current programming.

The replacement cost for CEC on the existing site is estimated to be $31,900,000.

• This tax credit reduces the burden for agricultural property owners on existing and future school bonds.

• Ag2School is a 70% automatic tax credit on agricultural homestead property tax bills payable in 2023 and beyond.

• In 2024, the State will pay approximately $10,067,200 (16%) of the $62,920,000 total bond.