The Crookston School Board held an informational session last week for the board and the public to hear ICS present information on the costs to repair and update Washington School, as well as the school district’s demographic data. The news was both good and bad. The good news was the enrollment for the district over the next decade looks like it will remain steady. The bad news is the pricetag for repairing/fixing up Washington School is over $6 million, which has pretty much solidified the district’s decision to close the school after the 2026-27 school year.
WASHINGTON SCHOOL FIX-UP/REPAIR COSTS
Washington School was constructed in 1953 with 29,100 square feet and added portable classrooms in 1993, bringing the total to 31,920 square feet. It is located on approximately 8.8 acres.
ICS conducted a facility assessment and evaluated the exterior envelope (walls, roofing, windows, and doors), Interior finishes (walls, flooring, ceilings, and casework), plumbing and mechanical systems (water, HVAC, and filtration), electrical systems and life safety (lighting, fire, and egress), and ADA compliance and site infrastructure (sidewalks, drives, and curbs). Assessments were visual only, as performance was not tested, and the data were used to develop 10-year maintenance, repair, and replacement cost estimates.
“We had the ICS company come in, and they had gone and evaluated the building top to bottom, warts and all, so to speak. They found some of the scary things like no sprinkler system. Some of the doors were not in the best of shape, and some of the cooking and the water system needed to be fixed,” said Dufault. “The boiler system, which we know it’s on its last legs, and that’s going to cost a small fortune to fix up. “To go through the whole building, if you want to get it up and running, it’s going to cost over six million dollars.”
The ICS breakdown of what they would need to fix over the next 10 years totals $6,654,050.
The estimates are below –
Boiler/HVAC/dehumidification/adding sprinkler system – $4,267,800
ADA Restrooms – $852,000
Domestic water upgrades – $521,500
Interior doors and hardware – $297,300
Flooring – $220,100
Electrical – $142,000
Ceiling – $116,630
Exterior doors and hardware – $93,300
Chalkboard – $82,320
Portable classroom repairs – $61,100
TOTAL – $6,654,050
With such a large number of needed repairs over the next 10 years, what is the future of Washington School? “I’m pretty sure we’re going to close it down,” said Dufault. “Now, we’re talking about keeping it open one more year, while we’re getting so late in this season to get Highland ready. We’d maybe wait, which would also give us more time to shop the building around. We’ve had a couple of organizations interested in the building, and now it’s time to reach back out to them and see how interested they are.“
DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION –
The Crookston School Board received some positive news when ICS reviewed the district’s demographic information, including a projected increase in student enrollment over the next seven school years. ICS’s student enrollment projection has Crookston rising from 1,075 students this school year to 1,109 in the 2032-33 school year, then back down to around 1,073 by 2035-36.
Some interesting data was the area districts that have seen increases in enrollment over the last 10 years. Warren-Alvarado-Oslo has seen a 23 percent increase, Red Lake Falls a 14 percent increase, East Grand Forks a 4.7 percent increase, and Fertile-Beltrami a 4.1 percent increase. Declining area districts include Climax-Shelly, with a 30.2 percent decrease over the last 10 years; Fisher, with a 23.7 percent decrease; Thief River Falls, with a 17.7 percent decrease; and Crookston, with a 9.9 percent decrease. The combined enrollment of area schools over the past 10 years has decreased by 5.1 percent. “They did a demographic study of our population going forward 10 years, which is very fascinating. And a similar trend to everybody else in the rural areas, declining population,” said Dufault. “You got an older population, you got fewer kids per family, and we compared that to other school districts in the area. We’re holding our own.”
