Learn About How We Reached This Point
Created in 1992 through the combined efforts and vision of two communities — Spring Valley and Wykoff — Kingsland is committed to providing a quality educational experience for all students through our our mission of “forging learning, growth, future,” and our vision to “instill lifelong passion for learning and community through opportunities and experiences.”
Community support for Kingsland has grown over the years, and we are grateful for your support. We are also proud of how we educate students and the resources we provide, including a diverse course offering for students in grades 7-12, customized curriculum for our elementary students, being a member of the STEM Forward program, Project Lead The Way, Ramp Up To Readiness, a member of the Southern Minnesota Education Consortium (SMEC), and more.
As part of our district’s strategic plan through the year 2026, we are continuously planning for Kingsland’s future. In addition to how and what we teach are the spaces where our students learn and grow.
Along with numerous stakeholders from our communities, our school board, district, and administration have worked hard to bring forward a plan that best addresses our long-term needs while being responsible with taxpayer dollars. Our physical facility needs were identified nearly a decade ago as we started our long-range facilities planning process to help with future maintenance planning efforts.
A plan to address several of our needs was brought to voters in a single-question bond referendum in November 2016, which voters rejected at that time. After that, our district evaluated other ways to address some of the immediate physical facility needs in our building. We are thankful our district was able to remodel the first and second floors of the 1957 portion of our building using board-approved funding in 2019, however, additional physical facility needs remain and have only increased in urgency since that time. Our maintenance staff has done a good job taking care of our facility, but annual state-provided funds only go so far.
Kingsland Public Schools continued its facilities and long-range planning journey:
Our Facilities Committee was involved from the beginning of this process to help further understand, identify, and prioritize our facility needs. This committee includes School Board Clerk Steve Tammel, High School Principal Dana Simmons, Buildings & Grounds Director Nate Carolan, Superintendent Scott Klavetter, along with two teachers and two community members.
A comprehensive facility assessment was completed to understand the physical conditions of our school, including our building systems (HVAC, electrical, plumbing, etc.), building envelope and exterior such as windows, doors, roofing, etc., and more.
With the assistance from our roofing consultant, The Garland Company, the district completed an analysis of all remaining roof sections of the existing facility to provide a recommended replacement plan. Garland replaced the gymnasium roof in 2023 and is well-versed with our facility.
A space utilization efficiency study was completed to determine current space needs and future space needs, if applicable. Based on guidelines established by the Minnesota Department of Education, they provide general recommendations on space utilization, which help impact overall decision-making. The results from this study showed that several classrooms are undersized, support spaces and Special Education spaces are 32% below MDE’s guidelines, and educational day-use gymnasium space is 27% below MDE’s guidelines.
A utility analysis was completed to assess our school’s energy efficiency, which showed that a 20% reduction in energy use could save approximately $30,000 per year. In addition, recommissioning our HVAC system approximately every five years would help ensure proper and efficient ongoing building operations.
A demographics study was completed by Applied Insights North to understand historical enrollment and project future enrollment, which is projected to remain stable for the next decade.
A comprehensive financial analysis was completed, with the help of Baird, to help review the district’s financial health and to identify all available funding options and tools to minimize the impact to local taxpayers.
Our district worked to gather internal and external feedback to further develop a potential plan, including community listening sessions hosted by the school board and ICS in October 2023 and May 2024.
After all facility needs were prioritized and discussed, they were presented to the board for further consideration. On Monday, June 17, the Kingsland School Board unanimously approved the resolution to present two ballot questions to residents on November 5, 2024.
The school board feels confident that the proposed plan addresses our critical maintenance needs and educational programming needs to position Kingsland for the future while remaining fiscally-responsible to our taxpayers.