Yes. The deferred maintenance needs alone for our buildings far exceed the amount provided by our district's building fund. A voter-approved referendum is the only way to comprehensively address these needs and other improvements to our learning spaces, regardless of whether our district decides to consolidate our elementary buildings into one or continue to operate all three existing buildings.

Our district’s building fund provides approximately $150,000 per year for maintenance needs. Unfortunately, this is not enough to fully address deferred maintenance across all three of our school buildings. Raising the district’s debt limit and/or selling bonds to fund maintenance and other improvements would require voter approval.

Yes. Our district has held several listening sessions with staff from each school to identify our top facility challenges and receive their input on what our district should prioritize in terms of maintenance and improvements. Staff have also provided input on consolidating our two elementary schools into one building. We will continue to seek feedback and engagement from staff throughout the planning process.

Yes. As with staff, our district has provided several opportunities for community members to give their input during listening sessions and community meetings. All members of our community are also encouraged to ask questions and provide input via the Connect form found here.

As our district considers the needs of our facilities and ongoing operational expenses, one option being considered is consolidation from three buildings down to two. This option is being carefully discussed with staff and community members for several reasons:

• Student Education: With two buildings instead of three, the district could concentrate resources on creating optimal learning environments, rather than spreading efforts thinly to maintain multiple facilities. This focused investment in fewer buildings would result in improved spaces that are more conducive to student learning, fostering a more effective educational experience.

• Staffing: Consolidation would centralize staff into fewer locations, enhancing both efficiency and communication. For example, consolidation would allow our district to concentrate kitchen staff into two kitchens instead of three, which would help eliminate staff shortages and delays to meal preparation. Additionally, consolidation would decrease travel time for staff members who work in multiple buildings during the week, further streamlining operations.

• Cost Savings: Operating only two buildings would reduce costs for transportation, staff resources, maintenance, utilities, delivery  and cleaning.

• Busing and Transportation: Two schools would significantly improve the speed and efficiency of student pick-up and drop-off, since buses would only need to make two school stops instead of three. This would also mean fewer stops for families who may transport their students directly to school if they have multiple students who attend different schools. 

• Fewer transitions: Transitioning from one school to another can be a stressful period for some students. Consolidating into just two buildings would reduce these transitions and enable students to become more familiar with their learning environment, teachers, and staff over the course of several years.

If our district consolidates, Hoople Primary (grades PK-2) would likely be chosen as the location for students in grades PK-6 and Crystal Intermediate (grades 3-6) would be closed. There are several reasons for this:

• Crystal Intermediate is located on a floodplain and has flooded several times in its history. This disrupts learning, creates significant costs for our district, and requires our entire community to help with sandbagging and cleaning. 

• The school in Crystal Intermediate is also the oldest of the three buildings. It lacks an elevator, which prevents students, staff and visitors with limited mobility from accessing the second floor classrooms and library.

• Hoople Primary hosts our district’s daycare services and is already best-equipped for these services.

• Building an addition to accommodate PK- 6th graders is more feasible at the existing Hoople building than the existing Crystal building.   

Yes. Our district’s enrollment has grown over 20% since 2020, and is projected to grow another 20% over the next decade. As enrollment grows, it will be important to ensure our district has the classroom and common space needed to accommodate all learners.

Our maintenance staff has done an exceptional job of taking care of our school buildings. We take great pride in ensuring our buildings are clean and healthy, and in recent years have replaced worn out and outdated interior finishes and bathroom fixtures, among other improvements. However, our building fund is unable to cover the full scope of needed maintenance across our three buildings.

Elevators are crucial for providing access to all areas of the school for students with mobility impairments. This ensures compliance with laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which mandates accessibility in public schools. Elevators are also important for transporting heavy or bulky equipment that cannot be easily carried up stairs, such as carts and furniture.

Completing improvements all at once would minimize costs associated with planning and financing, and avoid the risk of higher costs for materials and labor in the future. It would also ensure that today’s students are able to benefit from these improvements sooner.

Crystal Intermediate has flooded several times, most recently in 2022 when water inundated locker rooms, the boiler room and other underground spaces. Extensive assistance was required from volunteers, staff, and even students to remove the water and reinforce the space with sandbags against the risk of further flooding.

It is only a matter of time before flooding threatens the building again. Even with the generous help from our community to protect the building against flooding, the risks of further damage and delays to classes and school activities remain.

Over the last year, our district has completed several assessments of our schools and collected input from students, staff and local residents to determine the top challenges facing our districts. The top challenges identified include:

• The costs associated with maintaining three aging buildings in three different towns, despite our relatively small enrollment.

• A lack of space to accommodate our projected enrollment growth.

• Spaces that are not ADA-compliant.

• A lack of controlled entrances at all three buildings.

• Gymnasium and locker rooms spaces are outdated and not ADA-compliant.

• All buildings have extensive maintenance needs, including HVAC systems, roofing, windows, playgrounds, and parking lots.

Investing in our school buildings would help ensure the health, longevity, and educational excellence of our learning spaces for decades to come. Our community deserves high-quality schools that are equipped to help students reach their fullest potential.