The Crookston School District held a long-range planning committee meeting on Monday afternoon and discussed developing a middle school at the high school and adding preschool to Highland School which would allow the district to save an estimated $150,000 a year by operating out of two buildings. “Today was a day to dream,” said Superintendent Jeremy Olson. “We are looking at what this district could be like down the road. I feel strongly, and I believe the school board members that were at the meeting feel this is the direction to go.”
The Crookston School District has about $4 million dollars in ESSE funds they can use on certain projects. Superintendent Jeremy Olson showed the committee plans on only using two buildings, the Crookston High School and Highland School. The plans include having preschool through fifth grade at Highland School and sixth grade through seniors at the High School.
The plans for the high school include using the southeast portion of the school for a middle school model with that part of the building blocked off with walls. The plan includes a separate entrance for the middle school students to keep them as separated from the high school students as possible. “We looked at a plan from ICONN that would create a separation in the high school to have a self-contained middle school for sixth through eighth grade,” said Olson.
The plans also included adding on to the east end of Highland School to make room for the preschool students. The drop-off area would also be changed to make it easier and safer for the students. “We want to invest in preschool and we have already invested a lot of time and resources into preschool,” said Superintendent Olson. “We also want to address the parking and parent drop-off area. That has been a huge challenge for our parents dropping off their kids. We want to solve that issue as well. We would extend and make a larger drop-off area.”
Superintendent Olson and the school board members in attendance believe the district will be a two-building district in the future. “There is a lot of work to be done,” said Olson. “We don’t know if this will be possible. There are applications that need to be sent to the state and I believe this is the direction for Crookston.”
WASHINGTON SCHOOL’S FUTURE
If the district leaves Washington School, there are plans to still have the building serving children, families, and the community. Stephanie Okroi, a childcare provider, spoke to the Crookston School Board about her plans to rent out two classrooms at Washington School, and with the high demand for childcare, there is a possibility she could take over the building. “We are working collaboratively with the City of Crookston and we at this point only have two classrooms that were available so that is what is being rented out,” said Superintendent Olson. “As we start looking at consolidating down to two buildings, is it a possibility for Washington School down the road to still be used by an early childhood center that contains childcare, maybe do some ECFE training, there is a lot of options to serve our kids and our families.”
