CRESTVIEW AND NEWPORT ELEMENTARY AMONG THOSE TO BE DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY PROPOSED PLAN, PUBLIC PRESENTATION AT OLTMAN MIDDLE SCHOOL MARCH 15

The final plans are in for the long-range facilities plan in Independent School District (ISD) 833, with effects on individuals dependent in part on school attendance boundaries.

Presented March 3 to the ISD 833 school board in workshop with public presentations to be held on March 15 in person at Oltman Middle School from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and again March 17 via Zoom from 5:30 p.m to 7 p.m., the proposed changes are many. So what would the plan propose to do exactly?

First up the Crestview and Newport Elementary report.

For those families residing in the Crestview Elementary boundary, the long-range facilities plan calls for construction of a new 1,000 seat school “in a more central district location” on land yet to be purchased, while the Crestview attendance boundary would be kept intact and the building transformed for the South Washington County Alternative High School. The Park High School campus will be extended onto the current Crestview Elementary campus as part of the plan, while the project as proposed “would be scheduled for completion no earlier than 2025.

At Newport the plans are slightly different.

Proposed to become an early learning center with closure as an elementary school “no earlier than 2025,” attendance boundaries for Newport Elementary under the proposed long-range facilities plan would be taken over by other schools in the district so that Newport students would be split up between Woodbury Elementary, Bailey Elementary, and Cottage Grove Elementary.

The transition of Newport Elementary to an early learning center would prospectively allow the district to expand opportunities in Early Childhood Special Education and Early Childhood Family Education, along with early childhood screening, preschool, and Pre-K. Bailey and Cottage Grove Elementary would see classroom additions under the plan as attendance boundaries shifted, while Woodbury Elementary would be renovated to create a shared learning space along with early learning and special education spaces, along with a renovated kitchen. Many other elementary schools would see classroom additions and/or new kitchens among the proposed long-range facilities plan.

As to the district’s four middle schools, all would see new construction, with Oltman, Lake, and Cottage Grove getting new classroom additions while Woodbury Middle School would see a new music room and secure entry, along with renovation of existing space to expand capacity, including for STEM classrooms. The acronym STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

Among the other pertinent details would be an attendance boundary change in which Oltman would cede a rectangle of its attendance boundary to Woodbury Middle, the said rectangle bordered by Radio Drive on the west, Dale Road on the north, Pioneer Drive on the east, and Military Road to the southwest.

As to high schools in the district, East Ridge would cede separate portions of its boundary to Woodbury and Park, with the expanded Woodbury High boundary enclosing the City of Newport and that portion of East Ridge bordered by Radio Drive to the west, Dale Road to the north, Pioneer Road to the east, and the Woodbury/Cottage Grove border to the south.

The boundary shift for Park, meanwhile, would relate to a portion of land north of 70th Street which includes agriculture and mixed residential in its existing land use, but is guided to include medium- density residential and commercial growth as well in the Cottage Grove 2040 Comprehensive Plan.

Shifting for High Schools down the list, the ISD 833 District Program Center would be sold no earlier than 2025, while the District Service Center would be renovated to retain operational facilities such as warehouse and storage capabilities, along with supporting the Next Step and Pathways transition programming for those aged 18 to 21, scheduled for completion no later than 2025.

At the same time, a new District Service Center would be built in a central locations on the new Crestview Elementary campus, as part of a bid to consolidate support staff, community education, and enrollment services, along with space for meetings and professional development.

As to early learning centers in the district, the final proposed plan calls for the existing Liberty Ridge Site II to continue as an early learning center, while Newport Elementary as stated earlier in the article would be converted to service early learning needs as a second early learning center.

Also included in the proposed plans are renovation of Central Park for use by SoWashCo Online, adult basic education and special education, along with the non-renewal of leases for the Next Step and Pathways transition programs, these being moved to a renovated District Service Center building.

As to transportation in the district, the current site would remain, while construction of a satellite transportation space for additional school bus parking would also one included in the proposed changes.

Following public presentations at Oltman Middle School March 15 and via Zoom March 17, the proposal will next go to the board at its March 24, 2022 school board meeting, scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. March 24 at 7362 East Point Douglas Road, in Cottage Grove.

Pending plan review by the school board along with board approval this April of a bond referendum, the bond needed to finance the proposed changes would then go to voters at an August 9, 2022 special referendum.

The cost of such a bond, is projected to equal $23 per month for a home worth $300,000.

Of note in the proposed elementary boundaries to take effect in 2025 under the long-range facilities plan is the transformation of Newport Elementary into an early learning center with elementary students from Newport to be split between the Woodbury, Bailey, and Cottage Grove Elementary schools. Image from www.sowashco. org/facility planning.

Among the boundary changes for high school would be East Ridge losing parts of its coverage area to Park High and Woodbury. Park would take over a square plot north of 70th Street South, while Woodbury High would take a portion in the center of East Ridge territory, as well as the district generally. Image from www.sowashco.org/facility planning.

Among the boundary changes to the middle school attendance would be the transfer of a portion in its northeast offshoot to Woodbury Middle School. Image from www. sowashco.org/facility planning.