Safety; security; space — making Anoka-Hennepin Fit for the Future
Anoka-Hennepin is growing and buildings across the district are at or beyond capacity.
Thousands of students at nine district schools attend classes in portable classrooms in yards and parking lots because the permanent building they go to doesn’t have adequate space. There are 62 portable classrooms in all, posing a safety and security risk to students and staff.
Meanwhile, in the sod fields of Blaine and the farm fields of Ramsey, new housing developments are popping up like corn stalks — and families with children are rapidly filling them.
That is why, on Tuesday, Nov. 7, residents of the Anoka-Hennepin School District will have the opportunity to make district schools Fit for the Future by addressing facility needs for students today and in the future.
“After advice from a community task force that researched this for 10 months, it’s clear we wouldn’t be able to find a reasonable way to accommodate the growth in our district or address the safety and security issues portable classrooms have without asking the community for funds for projects of this magnitude,” said Anoka-Hennepin School Board Chairperson Tom Heidemann. “We’re bringing forward our best recommendation built on community input.”
The Anoka-Hennepin School Board voted unanimously July 10 to put two levy questions on the November ballot. The decision comes following nearly 18 months of facilities planning, including work and recommendations made by the 32-member community Fit for the Future task force, as well as feedback from taxpayers, parents and guardians, and civic leaders during a series of community meetings held to discuss the topic in May.
The funding generated from the two levies will create safe and secure learning environments through the removal of portable classrooms; construct schools and additional classroom space where student populations are significantly growing; offer solutions for maintaining quality schools by improving science labs, media centers, and flexible learning areas throughout the district; and address class sizes at all levels — elementary, middle and high school.
The total cost for districtwide facility construction and renovations will be $249 million, which is what will be asked for in question two on the November ballot. If question two is approved by voters, it will be dependent on the approval of question one, which will ask voters for $226.20 per pupil annually, or $9.5 million a year, over 10 years. Those dollars will fund operational needs of the new spaces, and provide relief to class sizes across the district.
Thanks to a culmination of circumstances, including other debt obligations expiring, and low interest rates on construction bonds, the tax impact will be about $11 a month for the owner of an average home in Anoka-Hennepin, which is valued at $200,000. A calculator is available on the Fit for the Future website, ahschools.us/FitForTheFuture, for community members to learn their property’s specific figure.
“As our community task force shared earlier this year, we’re running out of space and there are more students on the way,” said Anoka-Hennepin Superintendent David Law. “The portables don’t provide a long-term solution, they have some safety challenges, and timing is good to address the largest areas needed to maintain our quality schools.”
Visit ahschools.us/FitForTheFuture for more information.