Staff photo by Fritz Busch Fairfax City Administrator Nicholas Johnson testifies at the GFW Special School Board Meeting in the GFW Primary School gym in Gibbon Monday. Several people testified after Superintendent Lonnie Seifert and Technology Coordinator Wade Werner presented the school district proposal. Seifert said the board plans to decide if and what building to close at its Monday, Dec. 10 meeting in the Winthrop school auditorium.

GIBBON — Several hundred people packed the GFW (Gibbon Fairfax Winthrop) Primary School gym Monday to hear the school district’s proposal to close a school building and give testimony for and against it.

Phil Klenk, GFW School Board Chairman, said it is the board’s responsibility to be transparent.

“We understand this is a solemn issue, very close to our hearts. And, it’s a weighty decision,” Klenk said. “The board wants to take action on what’s best for our students.”

Lonnie Seifert, GFW Superintendent, said the board’s recent decision to propose closing the GFW Intermediate School in Fairfax is just part of the the school district’s three-year statutory operating debt (SOD) plan recently submitted to the Minnesota Department of Education.

“Closing a school is just one of the pieces of the plan,” Seifert said. “The public agrees we have excess space. We can run our school district in two buildings. It is our plan to get out of statutory operating debt.”

The board will consider what closure option provides the most cost savings to provide education and what costs the least to prepare buildings for a move, Seifert said.

He said all school district technology goes in and out of the Gibbon school.

“A lot of pieces come into play,” Werner said. “It’s like a giant oak tree. Gibbon is the trunk. There are a lot of switches on our rack. It looks like a bowl of spaghetti.”

Werner estimated the cost of moving the technology hub from Gibbon to another school at $20,000 to $60,000.

Seifert said the Gibbon school could not house grades 7-12 but could host pre-K through grade 5.

The option of converting the Fairfax school to grades 7-12 would cost about $1.3 million due to locker room, auditorium and science lab renovation, according to R.A. Morton Construction Management.

Depending on technological hub moving costs, closing the Gibbon school and creating a pre-K-Grade 6 school in Fairfax would save the district $722,523 to $762,523 over three years, which was the biggest cost savings option.

Closing the Fairfax school would save $622,000 over three years, according to the school district presentation.

Those figures include cutting four teaching and staff reductions each year and a hard salary freeze over two school years.

The figures include the Fairfax City Council’s recent decision to offer free utilities (about $64,000 a year for up to four years) for the GFW Intermediate School in Fairfax.

In addition, the Fairfax City Council offered to assist local fund-raising efforts to buy new school playground equipment at the Fairfax school, which are estimated to cost $50,000 to $100,000.

Seifert said lavatory accommodations for pre-K to elementary grades would have to be made in Fairfax for such a move.

The board plans to act on the close closure issue at 6:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 10, in the Winthrop school auditorium.

Fairfax City Administrator Nicholas Johnson said the Fairfax City Council held a public hearing on ideas to help the school district address it’s financial situation.

“The City will solicit donations for fundraising. We already have a growing list of local organizations and persons willing to contribute,” Johnson said. “It’s a community-wide effort to help out the school district. No matter how much is raised, the City guarantees the playground will happen.”

“Our reason for doing so is simple and genuine. We want to save our school and GFW school district,” Johnson said. “The GFW School Board has an incredibly difficult task ahead of them. The City’s hope is to help lessen the burden of this financial situation. We wish for the school board to make the best possible decision, for now and for the future of the GFW school district.”

Retired teacher Beverly Bussler of Winthrop said she feels “very sorry” for the students and faculty regarding proposals to cut teachers and paraprofessionals. She asked about the status of the Winthrop school mold issues and lavatory issues in Fairfax.

Seifert said mold issues have been remediated last fall, but the school district plans to do another test or two before deciding to use the space for classrooms again. He said a first-floor classroom is now being used. Seifert said there are no foul odors in the Fairfax school due to faculty lavatory issues.

Augustana University student Corey Albrecht talked about how GFW students get along better than some of the older generations.

“When we stand before our Creator, he won’t ask what town we came from, but how we treated those from other towns,” Albrecht said.

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