THE PROCESS

Learn about the steps our district has taken to reach this point.

Here’s what our district has done to reach the point that we are at today.

  • The 2013 bond referendum addressed many of our district’s space needs, and we’re grateful to our community for their support at that time.

  • As part of our Long-Term Facilities Maintenance (LTFM) plan, our district was able to complete the following projects in 2021:

    • Improve the existing parking lots at our elementary and secondary schools.

    • Replace the internal heating and cooling piping associated with the geothermal system at our secondary school. 

    • Replace the remaining portions of roofing at our secondary school. 

    • Replace the existing steam boilers and existing piping in the southwest corner of the building so that the entire building operates off of a hot water system.

  • Our district has continued to evolve and change over the last decade. Specifically, KMS Schools has worked hard to identify and prioritize our facility needs over the last two years. Each step has been critical to fully understanding our district’s needs, and we’re thankful for the feedback our community has provided us. We took steps in our district’s overall strategic plan, including:

    • We evaluated our LTFM plan. 

    • We asked for staff feedback through a comprehensive online survey. 

    • We asked for staff and community feedback through several in-person listening sessions.

    • We evaluated our facilities through a comprehensive educational facilities assessment to understand our schools’ current utilization of existing space and identify areas where overutilization and underutilization occurs. 

    • We evaluated our facilities through a comprehensive facilities assessment 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 comprehensive demographics study was completed to understand our historical enrollment numbers and our future projected enrollment numbers. This information allows us to better understand the physical space required to best support our students. Applied Insights North provided this study.

    • We hired an experienced K-12 planning and construction firm, ICS, to assist in this process. ICS has continued to serve as our district’s partner beginning with the 2013 on the previous bond referendum and approved construction improvements completed since that time. 

    • The district engaged a financial advisor, Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors, LLC, 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. 

  • On Monday, July 10, 2023, the KMS School Board unanimously approved submitting a Review & Comment, the required documentation reviewed by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). 

  • On Monday, August 14, 2023, the KMS School Board unanimously approved the resolution to present a two-question bond referendum to district residents on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. The school board felt confident that the plan best met the educational and facility needs of our district while remaining fiscally responsible to local taxpayers.