Superintendent speaks out on purpose behind referendum
By REED WALLER
Staff Writer
A question is being asked in communities, and it goes sort of like this: Why, in this time of declining enrollment and tight money, do we need to spend $14 million on a new gym and new classrooms?
NRHEG Schools Superintendent Dr. Dennis Goodwin had a few things to say about that in his office last Wednesday.
“We need to focus on what we’re trying to do for our kids,” he told the Star Eagle.
“Right now we’re graduating 94 percent of our students, as compared to the state average of 80 percent. That’s still not good.”
Goodwin wants to graduate 100 percent, and for those graduates to have stayed because the school found a way to excite them and give them what they needed.
Classrooms
“In the old days, every child began school pretty much the same. But today some have no skills, some have some skills and not others.”
The sad result is that it tends to stay that way. Children who are prepared for school continue to perform better, while those who are behind to begin with never quite catch up.“In kindergarten, children who haven’t had preschool struggle,” said Goodwin. “Half of our kids go to preschool – if they all did, we’d have better performance.”
Why don’t they? Economics. The district is divided into a few wealthy, a few moderate income, and a lot of poverty level families.
“Presently 35 to 40 percent of our kids can’t afford preschool.”
The NRHEG district is starting to implement the Bridges program for 5-year-olds who aren’t quite ready for kindergarten. The class size limit is currently set at 15.
“I’m a big fan of Gov. Dayton’s 4-year-old program,” said Goodwin.
Gov. Dayton is pushing to have some of the state’s surplus budget spent on increasing access to pre-school for 4-year-olds. Minnesota trails much of the nation in the number of 4-year-olds who have access to state preschool programs.
“With such (economic) disparity we have students coming in with a widely varying range of skill sets. It would be better if we could move them around, put them into different classrooms based on topic. But we need classrooms for that.”
Even though enrollment is declining overall, there is still need for more classroom space to accommodate the larger number of younger children who will be entering the school system.
Auditoriums
The Ellendale gym will receive a new sound system and acoustical upgrades. The Ellendale building will also benefit from more security as visitors enter the school, and off street parking and bus parking to increase safety.
“I have trouble hearing,” said Goodwin of the existing gym. “And I want to be able to hear and understand our students performing.”
Meanwhile the gym in New Richland is using a borrowed sound system. The sound is still bad, the chairs are unsafe, musical instrument storage is bad, and there is nowhere to store theatrical sets, so they all have to be destroyed.
“There’s a large pool of kids (at NRHEG) in music, in plays, in band and chorus. We have more graduates going on to the arts than to athletics. We need to honor that.”
Putting more into the arts by way of creating better performance space is part of reaching that 100 percent.
“We want to put a focus on where kids are excited about school, what excites them to stay in school. We’re trying to find those niches.”
Whether the niche is music, theater, agriculture or shop, the school needs to be there.
“Not all of our graduates are headed for four-year colleges,” said Goodwin. “Many are going into the work force, farming, two-year, the military, or to a trade school.”
That’s why Goodwin is excited about the Greenhouse project, since it provides yet another opportunity for students seeking an alternate path.
New Gym
The existing gyms, even after some modifications, will still be usable as gyms, but the district has long needed a gym that would enable NRHEG to “play with the big kids” – to host tournaments and provide adequate space for all activities.
“With the new gym, coaches won’t have to hold practice at 6 a.m., or late into the evening.”
More playing space, more seating, more people, bigger events, all spell benefit to the community socially and businesswise.
It also means having adequate space and security to have a proper Prom.
Where are we going?
Ten years ago NRHEG was a struggling school district with old facilities just managing to maintain a roofing project and fix old locker rooms, and making program cuts while still spending down $200,000 a year, and facing poor results in academic standing.
In 2008-09 the district entered into a building improvements agreement with Energy Services Group/Honeywell, which cost $5,199,000 over a 15-year loan. The work was completed in 2012, and the district still managed to improve its fund balance while paying this off.
In 2010 the district was assisted by an operating referendum. That money was used to bring the district back to a positive fund balance, enabling them to consider new, much needed improvements.
Ensuing were years of program reductions and building improvements, consolidation of the elementary schools and elimination of the middle school, and conversion to high technology communication and teaching tools.
In 2013 $1.3 million was borrowed to renovate New Richland’s main entrance, cafeteria and kitchen. The district stayed in the black, and innovations were starting to occur.
It’s time to finish struggling.
“We are starting to see signs of academic improvement. Our elementary reading program is being challenging and successful,” said Goodwin.
“When you focus on a particular problem you see results.”
The upcoming referendum, if passed, would be the cap on a long process of working toward a goal.
“This is our 20-year plan,” Goodwin said. “We are out to put programs in place that will educate our kids the best we can. What this referendum will do is create a facility that will allow us to expand programs as finances are able to support them.”
And a school district with the facilities and the flexibility to graduate 100 percent.
A flyer will be out in the mail in the next couple of weeks containing detailed information. Additionally, there will be a Public Forum regarding the referendum Tuesday, May 26, at Ellendale at 5;30 p.m. and New Richland at 7:30 p.m. Representatives of WOLD Architects and ICS Consulting will be there to answer questions.
Information is also available on the school website, nrheg.k12.mn.us, including a tax calculator to help you estimate what the impact of the referendum will be on your taxes.