Dakota Valley eyes 2016 for new high school

About 330 students occupy the current high school, which is built for 300 and is about two decades old, said superintendent Al Leber. The upward trend is expected to continue and could reach 400 by fall 2016, he said.

"The bottom line is the high school is out of space now," Leber said. "It's going to get more out of space as time goes on. And from today, we're looking at at least two years to build."

Leber said the district is still in the early stages of planning for the new building, which would hold up to 500 students in about 125,000 square feet. After speaking with several builders, the district estimates a cost ranging from $18-24 million.

"These are all speculations," Leber said. "The building could be bigger. It could be smaller."

The district has already selected an architect and is now in the process of hiring a construction team. But the district still needs to purchase property to the north of its current campus at 1150 Northshore Drive in order to accommodate the new, larger building. 

Leber said the district has reached an agreement with some property owners but is still negotiating a price with others.

The current campus, which houses the elementary, middle and high school, is land-locked by the surrounding neighborhood, leaving little room to expand. Still, the district wants to keep all its buildings on a single campus.

The district in January formed a facilities committee of school staff, board members and people from the community to find ways to accommodate the growth in enrollment.

The committee recommended to the school board in September to build a new high school on the current campus and, if possible, attach it to the current high school. So far, the board has approved building a school, the purchase of more land and hiring architects. 

After seeing the plans, the school board will likely be asked in March to pass a resolution allowing a public referendum to issue a 20-year bond to fund the project. Leber anticipates the bond would not raise property taxes since the high school's current bond will be paid this year. 

"We are obviously very hopeful that the community will vote in favor of it," Leber said. "The nice thing is we'll be able to build the building with basically the same tax structure we have now."

Without a final design in place, Leber couldn't say exactly what will be featured in the new building besides more classrooms and a new band room. However, he said a new gym and auditorium are possibilities. 

If enrollment growth from the past is any indicator of growth to come, the district will mostly need the added classroom space.

In the 1994-95 school year, 621 students attended school in the district. That number has steadily grown to roughly 1,230 students enrolled this year.

That growth also sparked a series of construction projects.

A $2.6 million science center was added to the middle school in 2010, $3.3 million was spent on new elementary and high school classrooms in 2009 and $938,000 went into a new fitness center in 2008.

The fitness center and science lab were paid for through private donations.

Based on elementary school enrollment, Leber anticipates continued enrollment growth at the high school level. The district predicts enrolling as many as 425 high school students in four years, but it's difficult to extrapolate beyond that, Leber said. 

"After that we’ll have to wait and see what new houses have been built and if any new businesses have come in," he said.