Survey looks to future of school district

The Carlton school board agreed this week to move forward with a survey of district residents on a list of options for the future of the district. The survey will come after attempts to consolidate with neighboring district Wrenshall have stalled on issues around debt sharing and the fact that a state bill that would provide financial assistance remains in limbo.

In a 6-0 vote at its regular monthly meeting Monday, the Carlton board agreed to begin gathering information for a survey that will likely present three options for potential referendum voters. The survey, much like the one taken in 2020 jointly by both districts, would guide the Carlton board before it seeks any referendum on school building costs. The survey approved Monday will cost about $10,000.

Here are the basic options it will include:

1. Stay with the consolidation plan with Wrenshall, which calls for a grade school at the current South Terrace school in Carlton with upper grades at the school in Wrenshall. The plan to shore up the schools for the influx of students would cost about $38 million. The tax impact for a Carlton resident would be about $265 a year on a home valued at $150,000.

The consolidation, which was deemed the preferred plan by residents of both districts in the survey conducted last year, hinges on a bill in the state legislature that would provide debt relief for a new district. That bill would ease the cost of the consolidation by as much as 40 percent. Both districts paid for a lobbyist to push the bill through last year, but it did not end up in the final bonding bill. It has been introduced in the House this spring and sent to the Education Finance committee this legislative session. Its prospects are unknown.

Some of the overall cost of the consolidation could change, given the renovation now underway at the Wrenshall school.

2. Turn South Terrace into a K-12 school for the Carlton district. The required expansion at the grade school would cost about $34 million. The tax impact for the owner of a $150,000 home would be about $506 a year.

3. Turn South Terrace into a K-8 school only, and release high school students to another district through a tuition agreement.

Updates to the school would cost about $23 million and cost the $150,000 home owner about $306 a year.

Earlier this year, the Carlton board agreed on settling the future of the district by the end of the year.

The district has been plagued by declining enrollment that has strapped district budgets with decreasing state and federal per-student funds coming in. That year-end plan will likely be moved up because of interest in the high school property from Carlton County. Commissioners met with board members recently and indicated the county would like some idea of the district’s plans by mid-summer.

Board members said they didn’t feel any undue pressure from the county, which is trying to figure out where to build a new jail facility. Its options include the current site, adjacent to the high school, or on county property near its transportation building off Minnesota Highway 210. The county has been given until July of 2023, a sunset date ordered by the state, to get a new jail up and running.

Using the high school site would save the county money in infrastructure costs. Commissioners said that even if the district can’t commit by the time a jail decision is made, the county might still have use for the high school site in the future.

The survey is designed to gauge residents’ appetites for the future of the district and would not be complete in time for any commitment to the county this summer. Survey results would be expected in the fall.