Info meetings set on potential Stillwater schools bond referendum, Lake Elmo and Bayport buildings

Mary Divine, Pioneer Press
·4 min read

The Stillwater Area Public School District is considering a $175 million bond referendum to fund construction projects to address growth in the southern and central part of the district and improve safety at schools throughout the district.

Recent projections show that the district’s K-12 enrollment will grow by more than 300 students in the next 5 years, and by nearly 1,000 students in the next 10 years, said Carissa Keister, the district’s chief of staff and executive director of strategic communications.

“That is extraordinary (growth) for us,” she said. “We’ve been in a stable but slight decline over the past few years, so this is a pretty significant increase.”

The proposed bond referendum would help the district add capacity in the communities serving Andersen Elementary in Bayport and Lake Elmo Elementary, the two oldest schools in the district, and construct additional classroom space and a new gymnasium at Oak-Land Middle School in Lake Elmo. It also would be used for safety and security improvements at all district schools, including the front entry and main office at the Stillwater Area High School in Oak Park Heights.

Andersen Elementary was built in 1919, and Lake Elmo Elementary was built in 1920, and district officials want to build new elementary schools in Bayport/Baytown Township and Lake Elmo.

Bayport officials want to keep a school within city limits, and the proposed location is Barker’s Alps Park on the western edge of the city. The city of Bayport started leasing the Barker’s Alps land, formerly part of the Minnesota State prison farm lands, from the state in the 1970s and purchased the 48-acre parcel in 1985.

A special law passed by the Minnesota Legislature in 1973 to sell the property to the city specified that the land was to be used “for recreational and cultural purposes,” said Bayport City Administrator Matt Kline. “That’s obviously open to interpretation.”

For clarity, the city requested that local legislators sponsor a bill that amends the original special law to include “educational purposes,” he said. A bill was submitted later in the legislative session and made it only to committee; the amended bill will be considered during the next session, Kline said.

“The original law did not prohibit the city from ever selling the land nor is there any type of conservation easement on the property that the city has identified at this point,” Kline said.

Upcoming meetings

Bayport officials will hold a public forum from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at the Bayport Public Library “to share information on enrollment forecasts, current facility and location challenges, and the potential for a new Andersen Elementary campus at Barker’s Alps Park,” according to a postcard mailed to residents. “All Bayport citizens are invited and encouraged to attend to learn about the school district’s facility planning efforts and provide feedback on the proposed location at Barker’s Alps Park.”

District officials recently surveyed residents to test the level of support for the proposed projects and determine how much new funding taxpayers may be willing to provide as part of a bond referendum, Keister said. The survey results will be presented to the school board at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Stillwater Middle School.

The owner of a $500,000 home would see a property tax increase of about $204 a year for 20 years if the $175 million bond referendum passed, according to district officials.

Related Articles

The survey also was used to gauge interest in whether voters would support an additional $80 million bond referendum to support construction of a new high school auditorium for performing arts and community events; construction of a new gymnasium and remodel of the existing gymnasium into learning spaces at Afton-Lakeland Elementary School; construction of an Early Childhood Family Center on the south side of the district; and construction of a baseball and softball complex for student and community use at Stillwater Area High School.

If voters approved the additional $80 million bond referendum, the owner of a $500,000 home would see a property tax increase of about $96 per year for 20 years, according to district officials.

The board is expected to vote on a possible November bond referendum at a 6 p.m. June 27 board meeting at Brookview Elementary School in Woodbury.