Consolidation plan headed to state

The school boards from Carlton and Wrenshall earlier this week approved in separate online meetings a consolidation plan to be sent to the Minnesota Department of Education. It’s a formal step in a process with many parts as the districts edge closer to pairing up and forming an elementary school in Carlton and a middle and high school in Wrenshall.

The plan sent to the state describes how a combined district would spend $39.7 million to shore up the schools and grounds in each city to accommodate the influx of students in a consolidation.

The plan was sent to meet a deadline from the state in order to hold an August referendum on bonding for the construction. In a survey sent to residents in each district over the winter, respondents indicated a project under $40 million would likely pass in a vote. But that confidence requires a measure passed in the current state legislature securing money for school consolidations, covering up to 40 percent of the total cost. The district awaits the fate of that measure within the overall bonding bill as the legislative session, riddled by delays due to the pandemic, comes to a close by law at midnight Sunday.

Should the measure pass, the districts would go ahead with a referendum. Bonding for the improvements would mean an increase in taxes for residents. On a home valued at $200,000, the annual cost for 20 years would be $278 a year, or $23 a month.

A committee made up of members of both school boards came up with the plan submitted this week.

There were a few hiccups on the Carlton side when it came to passing the bill by the full boards. Sam Ojibway and Tim Hagenah are both members of the committee that came up with the final plan. They said they felt the move toward a varsity football field and track next to the high school in Wrenshall went against past discussions about a full athletic complex including baseball and softball fields at South Terrace in Carlton. But the price tag was deemed too high for a full complex in Carlton. With only a track and a turf football field, the committee decided to put them next to the future high school in Wrenshall. Hagenah agreed with the notion at the time. Ojibway was absent from the meeting when the field positioning was discussed.

Both voted “no” on the plan sent to the state this week, making the final vote 4-2. Both said promises were made to have an athletic facility in Carlton. Others have said there were discussions about how the school grounds would be laid out but nothing set in stone.

Carlton members who voted for the plan said they respected the committee process and the experts working with the districts on the consolidation, echoing comments made at the Wrenshall meeting an hour earlier on Monday, where that board passed the plan unanimously.

Wrenshall Board member Janaki Fisher-Merritt said he was surprised with the committee results that also put a pool question on the proposed August ballot. But he said the boards and the public need to “trust the process” of committee work that digs into details of complicated issues.

The first question on the August ballot would ask for support of issuing bonds for $37,950,000 to improve and add spaces at South Terrace and at the Wrenshall school. That includes new gyms at both schools and more classroom space. At the proposed high school in Wrenshall, the current varsity gym would be converted into an auditorium and the bus garage expanded to hold a larger fleet.

The renovation of the pool at Wrenshall, now in disuse, would be a second question on the ballot, asking for $1.7 million for a refurbished pool that would serve students and the community. Passing that question would mean a raise in annual taxes of about $10 dollars.

Carlton board member Ann Gustafson, also a member of the committee that put the submitted plan together, said bickering over what is placed where loses sight of the purpose of the consolidation. She said in 10 years no one will care — if the boards today make good decisions based on a “whole district and what’s best for students.”