Consolidation cost: $47.3 million

The price tag is in on upgraded facilities for a consolidated Carlton and Wrenshall school district: $47.3 million.

That was the estimate presented to district superintendent and school board members during a meeting Monday in Wrenshall. The firm ARI is working with the districts on the idea of a two-site option for consolidation - an elementary at Carlton's South Terrace school and a high school in Wrenshall. Both current campuses would need significant upgrades under the two-site plan.

But the estimate is just that. Fine tuning will continue into meetings in the coming month. And a consolidation agreement has to be reached in order to put any referendum moves into place. If that should happen, both school boards will have to convince voters that consolidation is worth the cost, which comes to about $192 a year for 20 years for a district resident living in a home valued at $150,000.

Superintendents for Carlton and Wrenshall said they weren't surprised by the costs. They remain hopeful that the consolidation will spur bond money from the state that could cut the facilities construction bill in half.

"It's pretty incredible, the funding we are trying to secure," said Wrenshall Superintendent Kim Belcastro. "This is a big deal."

School officials are looking at the funding Moose Lake received five years ago for its new school. That came under a "disaster" tag after the 2012 flood and after years of failed referendums there. Belcastro said she believes that working through the legislature could bring a similar amount of money to the eastern part of Carlton County. A statute is in place for schools under consolidation to ask for bonding at the Legislature. It could be $10 million or it could be more. School board members are hoping it's at least half of the $47.3 million.

Wrenshall costs

In Wrenshall, the estimate for upgrades is $30.7 million. The big-ticket item is an $8.4 addition where the former bus garage/rec center sits today. It would add 28,000 square feet to the campus and include a new competition gym, cafeteria, locker rooms and a secure entrance to the school. The next item, at $8 million, is familiar to Wrenshall residents. It's the cost of improving air quality throughout the school. The Wrenshall board last week approved bonding without voter approval for that work last week should the consolidation talks fall apart. The improvements have been part of the past three failed referendums.

It would cost $6.4 million to upgrade bathrooms and improve accessibility at the school.

Other costs include: $1.9 million to repurpose the existing gym into a career and technical learning center, $1.5 million to restore the pool and adjoining locker rooms, $750,000 for parking lots and driveways, and $750,000 for science classrooms and labs. The other $3 million would go to music and art upgrades, kitchen remodeling, roofing, asbestos removal, windows, tuck pointing and insulating.

The planned school in Wrenshall would include middle school students (grades 6-8) and high schoolers.

South Terrace costs

The estimate at South Terrace is $8.1 million for a K-5 school. It also would need a new gym at $3.8 million. A series of proposed interior upgrades totals $2.5 million. Another roughly $2 million would go to remodeling classrooms for early childhood education, a new playground, new office, a secure entry and bathroom upgrades.

Options?

Board members have yet to decide on how to approach what could be referendum add-ons. There are three projects totaling $6.8 million that could be considered optional for voters. A new all-purpose football field and track would cost $4 million. And auditorium would cost $1.8 million and new bus garage would cost $1 million.

On Monday, board members from each district's facilities committee talked about how residents would digest the cost of consolidation with facility upgrades. The full boards need to decide how to phrase any future referendum language. The district will not be allowed to include any comments on ballots about possible state funding easing the $47.3 million burden. Taxpayers would have to face the full amount and decide if they felt confident it could be cut down.

Janaki Fisher-Merritt of the Wrenshall board said that even if voters said "yes" to consolidation, a "no" to the funding would likely quash the consolidation. Carlton is still considering a one-campus plan for South Terrace and both sides are feeling the time crunch as state deadlines approach.

The districts could offer a referendum on bonds for facility upgrades in February. The other windows would be May and August. Part of the crunch is coming from the reliance on the State Legislature, which approves construction bonding in even-year sessions only. It appears the earliest you would see Carlton and Wrenshall students sharing a classroom would be 2021.

Nothing is set in stone, of course. Far from it. There remains an intricate series of steps for board members. ARI is returning to Wrenshall Monday for a 6 p.m. presentation to committee members outlining a finer-tuned facilities plan. Board members will then discuss costs, ballot question language, timelines for referendum votes, and how each district will dissolve and meld their staffs, elected officials, debts and programs.

The next meeting that includes full school boards is at 6 p.m. Oct. 7 at South Terrace. Three public meetings on all the issues surrounding consolidation are scheduled in October. The first is at 6 p.m. Oct. 24 at South Terrace. Residents can attend the committee meetings but they are not allowed to speak.