“We’ve talked about this date for four or five years now as part of our strategic planning. Locker rooms have been top on the list.””

Supt. Barry Cain

ELLSWORTH – In preparation for the upcoming Ellsworth High School phy ed locker room remodel, school board members talked about how to pay for the project, plus others looming on the horizon at the Monday, March 13 meeting.

Managing Director Lisa Voisin of Baird Financial, who has 35 years of experience in school district finance, prepared a presentation explaining different financing options to board members.

“How do you finance capital projects? You could use your annual budget, but that’s tough when trying to balance the budget,” Voisin said.

A school district’s operational costs are comprised of the annual budget (determined by a state formula, Fund 46 (a capital savings account) and the fund balance. Voisin said Fund 46 is mostly used for smaller-scale capital projects. Bigger projects, such as building a new school, typically use borrowed funds. These include revenue limit borrowing (Fund 38) or referendum borrowing (Fund 39).

“You have the ability to borrow up to $1 million without asking taxpayers,” Voisin said. “You use budget dollars to pay back Fund 38,” which is regulated by a formula from the state.

In 2024, the district will retire $1,445,000 in referendum debt, Voisin said. If the district borrows $995,000 to complete the locker room project, there should be little change to district residents tax bills. It’s basically paying off one debt and adding another.

“We’ve talked about this date for four or five years now as part of our strategic planning,” Superintendent Barry Cain said. “Locker rooms have been top on the list.”

The locker rooms haven’t changed since 1961, which includes plumbing, fixtures and configuration. They are not ADA compliant. The renovation will replace plumbing, electrical, flooring, lockers, benches, fixtures, bathrooms, benches and furniture, add individual shower stalls, provide handicapped accessibility and abate asbestos.

Kraus Anderson has estimated the locker room renovations to cost $1,267,850 on the high side. Borrowing $995,000, plus using $250,000 from Fund 46 means no additional impact on the budget thanks to retiring $1.4 million in debt. If anything, it could be a little lower, Voisin said.

Also, when the district refinanced the new elementary school referendum debt in 2020, the district saved more than $1 million in interest payments. The current outstanding amount, financed at .76%, is $22.8 million, which will be paid off in 2035.

“We’re doing this (locker room borrowing) on a 10-year note versus 20,” Cain said. “We’re moving forward to get the debt expired as fast as we can.”

The district’s capital savings account, or Fund 46, currently contains $616,436.63, after roughly $800,000 was used last year for replacing furniture at EMS and EHS. In answering board member Michael Petersen’s question about how the district’s Fund 46 account compares to other Middle Border Conference districts, Cain said some districts don’t have a Fund 46 established, while others have hefty ones. 

By the April 10 school board meeting, Voisin will know the interest rate at which the district could borrow the proposed $995,000. The board will vote on a resolution then. The district hopes to complete the locker room renovations this spring/summer.

The board, which approved a contract with Kraus Anderson to perform a comprehensive facilities study at the February meeting, also looked at how a referendum in 2024 might affect taxpayers. The facilities study is looking at the buildings’ life cycles and educational adequacies, primarily at EMS and EHS. The district is also considering adding a childcare facility. The study is in the early stages, plus a community survey will go out this fall, Cain said.

A hypothetical $20 million referendum, whose impact would first be felt in Fall 2024 if passed in April 2024, would increase the school district’s portion of property taxes on a $200,000 property by $167 per year (or $13.67 per month), Voisin said. She called this a “high-end, conservative estimate.”

Personnel report

The board approved the following personnel changes:

Hires: Lucas West, EHS band teacher

Resignations: Ryan Brown, EES custodian; Tonya Klem, district-wide school psychologist

Retirement: Kristin Nyquist, school counselor/social worker

Transfer: Megan Taplin, from EMS special education teaching assistant to Panther Kids Club director

Extra/co-curricular: Brad Giese, varsity assistant softball coach; Skyla Reed, JV softball coach

Other business

• Board members Gary Kressin and Steve Mark were absent from the meeting.
• The board honored three Ellsworth High School wrestlers who all made it to the podium at State: Will Penn, Louie Jahnke and Anthony Madsen.
• The board also honored the directors of the Ellsworth Middle School musical “Aladdin Jr.,” Isabella Devereaux and Danielle Lewis. More than 150 students auditioned, 74 took part, and all three shows were sold out.
• The board approved updated job descriptions for the tobacco education coordinator and PKC director, currently held by Jill Hutchison and
• The board approved the purchase of a commercial washer and dryer for EMS from RJ Kool Company for $13,462.10.
• The board voted to approve Raynee Farrell and Sue Peterson, along with board member Susan Beck, to canvass the April school board election results 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 10 in the Ellsworth Elementary School Community Room.
• EES Principal Mary Zimmerman presented the proposed K-8 science curriculum, which will focus on more hands-on, engaging instructional materials focused on early engineering concepts. The estimated up-front cost for six-year licenses is $123,600. The board will vote on the curriculum at the April 10 meeting.