Minster schools plan for expansion

MINSTER - Minster Local Schools officials and representatives from Garmann Miller laid out a nearly $42 million potential district facilities expansion project at a public forum on Wednesday night.

The multi-building project includes converting the district's current elementary building into a K-8 building, minor classroom expansions at the high school, and the construction of a 32,000- to 34,000-square-foot activity center meant to accommodate district athletics, arts and other extra curricular activities.

The project aims to address several spatial issues, Minster Superintendent Josh Meyer said. The district's limited space was brought on by increased enrollment, educational delivery needs, an increasing special needs demand, and a lack of activity space and circulation.

The option for a potential expansion project was developed along with a Facilities Task Force consisting of about 30 community members. Though planning for the potential project has picked up pace in recent months, Meyer said it began about two years ago when he and other district officials approached the village about a possible land swap.

School and village officials are set to close today on that land exchange agreement. The agreement between the Village of Minster and the board of education will allow for the transfer of 7.3 acres of village property to Minster Local Schools, and 11.446 acres of school-owned land adjacent to Four Seasons Park to the village.

The property the school district receives in the transfer includes a tennis court, shelter house and parking lot. A swimming pool and its parking lot will remain village property.

School officials previously stated the additional land is needed to meet possible future building needs arising from growing enrollment. The village will receive 11.446 acres of farmland from the Edward J. Dirksen revocable trust purchased by the school district at a cost of $572,369, or $50,006 per acre.

The agreement will allow the school district to grow in its current location instead of moving elsewhere, Meyer said Wednesday.

Garmann Miller representatives Matt Hibner, Brian Wolf and Becky Baumer were in attendance Wednesday to explain a project option they call "option white," which is a combination of two previous options called "option orange" and "option black."

The proposed option, which is estimated to cost $41,954,332, would include the construction of a 32,000- to 34,000-square-foot activity center, additions to the district elementary school to convert it into a K-8 building, various minor changes to the high school and various site work.

The proposed activity center, estimated at $13,446,000, would include multiple turf areas for various sports, several batting cages, two volleyball courts, two basketball courts each with six hoops, a golf simulator, a weight room, space for cheer and wrestling mats, storage, changing rooms and restrooms.

The building would also accommodate space for district clubs, Minster band, STEM programming, indoor recess and more.

At the current elementary school, "option white" would include a large addition in order to convert it into a K-8 building, Hibner said. The project portion would include a new playground, additional space for special education needs and additional classroom space. It's estimated to cost around $24,117,805.

At the high school, principal Austin Kaylor said, the project would involve minor adjustments to make up for the loss of two grade levels, primarily increasing the sizes of classrooms. This portion is estimated at $1,150,050.

Additional costs in the project include $1.13 million for site work and safety upgrades to parking lots and $2,109,477 to accommodate for forecasted inflation in 2028.

To pay for the proposed project, Kathleen Clark of FHN Financial Capital Markets was in attendance to discuss two potential options.

Clark discussed two financing scenarios, which included a combination of an income tax levy and a bond issue levy, or a certificate of participation, paid back through an additional income tax levy.

Though the plan was laid out for the public on Wednesday, Wolf made it clear that nothing is set in stone, and that school officials welcome community feedback.

A 30-member project task force is set to meet again this month, with another community forum slated for some time in December, he said.

"The board has to make the decision in December. In January, February, March, April, we're planning on having additional community meetings. We're going to dive into numbers a lot more. … There's going to be a lot more information given to the community on the building, the operations, ballot language, how much it's going to cost and so forth," he said. "There's more meetings to come. This is a lot of information that we want to give to you so you can talk to your friends or talk to whoever it is you want to talk to, to start just generating some interest."