NEW ULM – The new High School and reconfigured Washington, Jefferson and Middle School buildings in the New Ulm School District are a result of several years of planning.

In March 2013, soon-to-retire superintendent Harold Remme provided the School Board with a wide-ranging evaluation of facility needs, factors and possibilities, and urged the board into a phase of strategic planning. At the end of the 2012-13 school year, Remme was replaced by Superintendent Jeff Bertrang, who spearheaded the process.

In November 2013, District 88 assembled a Task Force of about 30-40 people representing a wide cross-section of the community, to assess strategic facility needs as they related to school goals, offerings and programs.

From December 2013 to March 2014, the Task Force held a series of planning sessions. At the same time, engineers and architects studied possibilities for facility reconfiguration and upgrades. The district also began work on the sale of a previously-closed Middle School at 15 N. State St.

Task Force process

The Task Force reviewed staff surveys of all programs to see what was needed but not available and gather information of the current state of facilities; an architectural presentation of options to meet the needs for all programs; population trends and class sizes; tax impacts based on project size and the duration of a potential bond; and several other issues.

It considered solutions with a multitude of configurations, ranging in price from $0 (do nothing) to $110 million (a complex with two new buildings).

After narrowing down and refining the options and hearing updated costs, the group reached a consensus to “do it right” and “not use a Band-Aid approach” – that is, not to pour money into aging buildings that would be near the end of their life-span by the time a bond is paid off.

While it did not even consider a new building seriously at first, the Task Force came to the conclusion to recommend a plan that called for a new high school for grades 9-12. The new building itself, at 140,000 square feet, would cost $25.9 million. The land cost was budgeted at $1 million.

Under the plan, Jefferson Elementary would be remodeled into a school for grades 1-4, the High School into a middle school for grades 5-8, and Washington Elementary into a pre-school, kindergarten and community education site.

Remodeling costs, plus soft costs, would bring the overall cost of the plan to $45.3 million.

Board action, information campaign

On March 27, 2014, the Task Force presented its recommendation to the School Board.

That same night, the board approved the sale of the State Street school to a group called Cenate.

On April 24, 2014, the School Board decided to call a referendum on Aug. 12 on a bond to build a new high school and remodel existing schools. The plan quickly gained Minnesota Department of Education approval.

During the summer, the district launched an informational campaign.

A group of supporters posted information on social media about why the bond is needed, what it would accomplish, what happens if the bond fails, what alternatives were considered, etc. Included were drawings to illustrate the projects.

Presentations were made to various organizations. Community informational meetings were held in Hanska, Lafayette and New Ulm in July. Information was mailed to voters and published in print media.

Referendum night drama

When Bertrang left the Brown County Courthouse on the night of Aug. 12, it appeared the referendum had been defeated by a narrow 49-vote margin out of 4,777 votes cast.

But after sending out emails to school board members with the news and a grim but determined statement to the press, Bertrang got an email from a parent who had been looking at the results on the city of New Ulm’s web site.

“My precinct doesn’t look right,” the email said. Bertrang called the County Auditor-Treasurer’s Office, which re-examined the precinct’s totals. They found the number of votes on the election card didn’t match the number on the tape. The vote totals were run again, and the new totals showed the district’s bond referendum had passed by a margin of 2,642 to 2,590.

“As I said in my earlier statement, these are issues that aren’t going away,” said Bertrang. “It’s exciting that we will now be able to move ahead on them.”

School Board Chair Duane Winter was also relieved and excited that the referendum had passed.

“When I heard it had failed, I thought, like Jeff said, the problems aren’t going away. We need to get re-energized and figure out how to deal with them. When I heard we really won, I was happy to know we can finally move ahead on this. I’ve spent a lot of time working on the district facilities committees and task forces, and I’m happy we are able to move forward.

“I know this means a sacrifice for a lot of people, but as a community, it’s good that we are building something that will benefit so many. To see this kind of change coming is exciting,” Winter added.

Successful bond sale

When bonds for the new project were sold on Jan. 22, 2015, the bond issue attracted eight very competitive bidders, which resulted in a 3.15 percent interest rate on the 25-year bonds, a savings of about $4 million over projections.

Other savings in the project resulted in the district being able to build more building than originally planned, at 167,000 square feet.

A groundbreaking for the new building was held on May 28, 2015, and the building was open for the beginning of school this month.