Building the Future of Beresford Together
Beresford Board of Education to Approve Bond Resolution. On December 11, 2023, the Beresford School District Board of Education (BSD BOE) will look to pass a motion to approve a bond election for Tuesday, May 14, 2024. The bond election would take place from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (e.g., the location is yet to be determined).
What is the District’s plan to address activity and fine arts space needs? During the September 20, 2023, meeting, the Beresford School Board identified the following three large project focus areas/phases: 1) Activity Space Improvements (Gym Addition and MPR Remodel) by continuing to move forward to address our needs with a bond election; 2) Fine Arts Space/Improvements (to begin improvements in 2033-2034) by saving Funds FY 2029 through FY 2033, and by engaging in conversations with key stakeholders regarding our intentions, efforts, and ideas in the fine arts; and 3) South Campus Lobby Improvements (to begin improvements in 2033-2034) by saving Funds FY 2030 through FY 2033. The District is calling a bond election to help finance the first phase of our strategic plan. The BSD BOE does not intend to seek additional bonds to address strategic priorities two and three.
What does this project involve? We plan to add a gymnasium and remodel our multi-purpose room to help us serve our current and future students and community. The addition would add three full-length cross-courts, a full-size competition court for HSAA-sanctioned events, an activity entrance, and renovations to the multi-purpose room (e.g., with the addition of ADA-compliant restrooms and a concessions area). The addition would allow us to move away from our outdoor freezer to an indoor freezer with additional kitchen/custodial storage space. The new gym could seat 1,890 people, and the project involves the addition of 25,140 square feet and remodeling 3,900 square feet. We have positioned the project in a location that would allow for future expansion based on our needs and priorities.
How will you pay for the project, and how will this affect my taxes? The Beresford School District would utilize $4.5 million in capital outlay certificates, $4.5 million in bond funds, and $1.5 million in cash to finance the project. Issued capital outlay certificates would not affect a patron’s taxes. Instead, the District would make committed payments from our capital outlay budget for 15 years to help finance the gym addition. A bond issue would impact a patron’s taxes with a mill levy of $0.53 per $1,000.
Will the Beresford School District continue to need the opt-out? Yes. Based on current and future needs (projected), the Beresford School District will continue to require an opt-out. An opt-out provides dollars to our general fund. The general fund is the primary fund of the district. All expenses for elementary, middle school, high school, co-curricular, certified staff, administration, classified staff, and custodial are accounted for through the general fund. Approximately 80-85% of the general fund is used to support salaries and employee benefits. The opt-out helps us provide programming and staffing for our kids. During the 2024-2025 school year, we will recommend that the board approve an opt-out resolution during our January 2025 school board meeting.
What would you do with the additional space at the South Campus? The gymnasium addition allows us to improve the quality of our academic and athletic experiences at the Beresford School District. The additional court space would enable us to schedule practices immediately after school. During the winter, both basketball teams could be done by supper time, kids could be home at a decent hour, and the space would be available for community practices. More so, we could honor more requests regarding community youth practice sessions. Instead of having our dance team practice in the high school lobby or rent studio space, our dance team could practice in an area similar to where they compete. When we have our elementary, middle, and high school concerts, we would still be able to be ready for our concerts without needing to set up and clean up multiple times. Play practices would be free of interruptions caused by athletic practices. During the spring, we would be able to have space for indoor track, golf, and softball practices without utilizing our high school hallways and lobby as training areas by necessity. During the school day, our middle and high school physical education classes would not need to split court space while lunch preparations and clean up happen in the multi-purpose room. The gymnasium addition would allow youth tournaments to occur at one central location with five cross courts of action (e.g., three in the new space and two in our current gymnasium). More so, additional tournaments and experiences would bring more people into the community -people would spend their dollars at our local establishments during the day.
Why do you need to renovate the multi-purpose room? We will need additional restrooms by adding gymnasium space to our existing infrastructure. Based on the building’s projected footprint and cost-effectiveness, remodeling the multipurpose room allows us to create an activity entrance area with updated and fully ADA-compliant restrooms and an updated concessions stand. More so, we would be able to use the activity entrance, restrooms, and concession stand area for events in the new gym space and our existing gym space. Students would be able to dine in the renovated area during the school day. We would use our existing kitchen and lobby area to provide lunch service (e.g., dining would also happen in the renovated multipurpose room and lobby area). More so, we could utilize the renovated multipurpose room space for class meetings and other events that would allow an audience of 150-175 students. We mainly use the multi-purpose room for physical education courses, dining, practices (district and community), and sub-varsity competitions. During the day, we relocate high school or middle school physical education courses for dining setup and cleanup.
How will this first phase help our fine arts programming? When fine art events would take place in our current gymnasium or at Beresford Elementary School, we would not schedule practices and events up to the date the space is needed for a performance. This would allow for play practices to take place at Beresford Elementary School -rehearsals that could be free of bouncing basketballs and other events taking place in the background. During concert seasons, we would eliminate the need for multiple set-ups for similar types of events. We have made sound and lighting upgrades to our current gymnasiums. We plan to utilize these spaces for fine arts performances, prom, dances, and concerts.
Do you need to build classrooms? No. Based on our growth rate, current building capacities, and our predictor model, we do not need to add classrooms to the Beresford School District. Enrollment data will be continuously reviewed to ensure that we have the classroom space we need.