The Process
Learn about the steps our district has taken.
Goodridge Public School has worked hard on our long-range facilities plan over the last year. Our district worked through a four-phase process that included:
Here’s what our district has done to reach the point that we’re at today
The district hired an experienced K-12 planning and construction firm, ICS, in July 2022 to assist in developing a long-range plan for our district.
This project team, along with district administration and our school board have worked on the following:
Facility assessments: This assessment was completed to understand our school’s physical conditions including our building systems (HVAC, electrical, plumbing, etc.), building envelope/exterior such as windows, roofing, doors, etc., and more. A full report was completed including an outline of all deferred maintenance needs. View the completed facility assessment presentation here.
Educational adequacy assessments: Defined by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), educational adequacy ranks school facilities in 18 categories as either adequate, questionable, or inadequate. Categories include classroom size and suitability, technology, and special education/support services. Out of 18 categories, our elementary school is ranked inadequate in nine and our high school is ranked inadequate in 12.
To gather additional input, we held an educational adequacy input session with staff members to identify perceived areas of need and satisfaction. Each staff member identified what they felt were the top five facility needs of Goodridge Public School. Once this feedback was collected, the facility needs were ranked to highlight the group’s combined top facility needs.
Demographic studies: We completed a demographics study to understand our past enrollment trends and how our district will grow in the future to ensure that any physical changes made are right-sized to match future student enrollment.
Financial assessments: The district engaged a financial advisor, Ehlers, Inc., to help review the district’s financial health and to identify all available funding options and tools to minimize the tax impact to local taxpayers.
Stakeholder listening sessions: A total of 10 listening sessions were held with various stakeholder groups including our school board, staff, students, agricultural landowners, and our larger community. These sessions provided insight into understanding our challenges, facility needs, and expectations.
Community members: four listening sessions
Goodridge students in grades 7-12: three listening sessions
Teachers and staff: two listening sessions
School board and administration: one listening session
After the assessment phase, a Community Action Committee was created to aid the school board to determine the best long-term solution for the district. This group, consisting of various community members and staff members, met several times to review the information provided, tour the school, review the proposed options, and discuss the proposed investment to fund the potential options.
Before the school board approved the proposed plan, the district held an ice cream social to gather additional community feedback. Community members completed a survey and the results can be found here.
On Tuesday, June 27, 2023, the Goodridge School Board unanimously approved the resolution to present a single-question bond referendum to district residents on November 7, 2023. The school board felt confident that the plan best met the facility and educational needs of our district while remaining fiscally responsible to local taxpayers.