Staff photo by Fritz Busch Gibbon Fairfax Winthrop (GFW) residents listen and comment at the GFW Facilities Task Force informational meeting/listening session in the Gibbon Elementary School gym Tuesday night.

GIBBON — A couple hundred people listened and asked questions at a Gibbon Fairfax Winthrop (GFW) Facilities Task Force Committee informational meeting/listening session in the elementary school gym Tuesday night.

Superintendent Lonnie Seifert said the committee of more than 30 residents from all three cities was developed in response to the November 2017 failed bond referendum that asked voters to support renovating or upgrading each of the current school district buildings.

“Our goal is to continue to keep the communities of GFW informed of the process and the work the committee has been doing to reach a recommendation to go to the school board,” Seifert said.

After a lot of study in recent months, the committee favored building one new school building for an estimated cost of $50.8 million at a site to be determined. A number of residents said they believed the site would be in the Gibbon area.

The committee decided extensively remodeling a preK-grade 6 school in Winthrop and a junior and senior high school in Fairfax for $28.9 million was the second-most popular option. The Third most popular option were a prekindergarten through grade 2 school in Gibbon and grades 3-12 in Fairfax.

Seifert said the task force looked at existing school conditions, enrollment trends, survey results among other factors before ranking its options.

“We have about 411 square feet (of school) per student. We’re one of three schools among 40 studied with more than 400 square feet per student,” Seifert said. “We have way too much space, high operating costs, can’t host a conference track meet because our track needs about $1 million in repairs plus air quality, ADA (American Disabilities Act) compliance and fire protection issues.”

Seifert said the school district needs a single-point controlled entrances and has about $17 million in maintenance projects alone that need to be done. In addition, he said a bond referendum is needed just to do the maintenance projects since only about $3 million could be generated from long-term facilities maintenance funds.

Studying project cost estimates, a man questioned a $63,000 flower bed.

Preston Euerele, President/CEO of St. Cloud-based RA Morton Construction Managers said the structure was also a retaining wall and had several other uses and that it was only a cost estimate, not a bid.

Seifert said the recent maintenance work at the Gibbon school included $60,000 for roof work plus asbestos abatement in the high school.

“We’ve got about a half dozen classrooms not being used in the high school until we move sixth and seventh-graders to the high school next year,” Seifert said. “We’ve also got some middle school classrooms not being used. One option is turning the former auto mechanics shop in the middle school into a metal fabrication lab as part of a bond referendum project.”

Seifert said the lack of a secured early childhood classroom in Gibbon can be rectified by moving fourth-graders to Fairfax next year.

In addition, Seifert said 43 former GFW students open enrolled at Sibley East, 37 to New Ulm, 35 to Lafayette Charter School, 13 to Sleepy Eye, 10 to Cedar Mountain and five to Glencoe-Silver Lake. Nine students open enrolled at GFW from Buffalo Lake-Hector Public School.

Seifert said if the board decides to do nothing, the State of Minnesota may make school district decisions, eliminating local control.

Worse yet, if the school district dissolves, residents would become part of neighboring school districts including Cedar Mountain, Sleepy Eye, BL-H, New Ulm, and Sibley East. In addition, landowners would be subject to school taxes in those school districts.

If the school district dissolves, the school district would still have long-term debt leases for buses, roof and energy efficiency projects costing nearly $2 million, as far into the future as 2028.

With a $50.8 new school project, taxes on a home valued at $100,000 would rise $163 a year and $287 a year on a $150,000 home. With a $28.9 million, two-school project, taxes on a $100,000 home would rise $86 a year.

In addition, with the new Ag to School Tax Credit that recently passed the 2017 Minnesota Legislature, the State of Minnesota would pay about 30 percent of the project debt service levy, saving ag land owners about $24 million over the life of a bond issue.

In addition, Seifert said the school board is attempting to balance its budget by considering budget reductions at its April board meeting.

Seifert invited residents to call him at 507-207-2203 or email lonnie.seifert at gfwschools.org.

The last task force informational meeting listening session begins at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, April 4 in the GFW High School gym in Winthrop.

For more information, visit https://gfwschools.org/district/task-force/

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.