FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2015
Press Inquiries: Tony Taschner, communications director
651-423-7775 • tony.taschner@district196.org
Task force recommendations address safety, space and technology needs
ROSEMOUNT, Minn. – Safety and security, space for learning, and learning technology are the focal points of
facilities and equipment recommendations developed by a District 196 task force over the past seven months
and presented at the March 9 School Board meeting.
“The final recommendations are intended to support continued safe and successful schools in District 196,” said
presenter Julie Olson, director of Elementary Education and one of three task force chairs, “by improving safety
and security in all buildings, adding needed space for learning and providing technology access needed to
support a dynamic, personalized learning experience for all students.”
The total cost of the task force recommendations is $180 million, with $35 million for safety and security
improvements, $90 million to provide additional space for learning, and $55 million for technology access and
system updates districtwide. For comparison, voters in the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District recently
approved a $90 million bond referendum question and voters in the South Washington County Public Schools
will be voting on a $180 million question this Nov. 3 for the same types of facilities and equipment needs.
Burnsville has approximately one-third the enrollment of District 196 and South Washington County about twothirds the enrollment.
If the School Board were to bring a bond referendum question for the $180 million of recommended
improvements, the tax impact on the $245,000 average-value home in District 196 would be approximately $12
per month.
The Strategic Planning Facilities and Equipment Task Force was established last July in response to several
factors, including heightened concerns about school safety, a growing shortage of elementary school space and
this year’s launch of the district’s new learning technology vision. In addition, it has been more than 10 years
since the last bond referendum for building improvements in the district. Also, the 10-year capital projects levy
for technology funding that was approved as part of that June 2004 vote is expiring at the end of this year.
The task force spent the first four months reviewing capacity and enrollment data for every school and
individual building needs identified by principals and coordinators. Much of the task force’s work is based on
the recommendations of four other district committees that, within the past two years, studied safety and
security needs, early learning and elementary space needs, and the learning technology vision.
The task force review revealed the following issues to be addressed:
 Outdated security equipment and control of visitor access to schools;
 Concerns about pedestrian and traffic safety at specific school sites;
 A shortage of elementary school space due to:
o the addition of full-day kindergarten this year,
o district strategies to expand targeted, school-based preschool and magnet school choice options,
and
o enrollment growth in the south-central part of the district;


Use of space that does not meet district standards, and
A need to increase student access to technology as an essential tool for learning.
The task force developed preliminary recommendations to address these needs and presented them during three
nights of focus group meetings held the first week in December. Approximately 120 people attended the focus
group meetings. The preliminary recommendations were also presented to site councils at every school, to all
district advisory councils and to the superintendent’s parent leaders and key communicators groups in January
and February.
The feedback received at these meetings included substantial support for moving forward with
recommendations in the three areas, but there were also many questions seeking details that will be developed if
the board calls a question to fund any or all of the final recommendations detailed in the paragraphs that follow.
1. SAFETY AND SECURITY
Secure entrances – The biggest component of the safety and security recommendations are entrance
modifications that would involve moving or reconfiguring main offices at all elementary and middle schools so
that visitors would be routed directly through the main office. At the district’s five high schools, the
recommendations call for a secure vestibule to be added at the entrance, equipped with an electronic sign-in
system that would provide 100 percent identification of all visitors to the buildings during school hours.
The entrance modifications were recommended by the District Emergency Team following a review of safety
and security procedures in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. tragedy in December 2012. The team, which
includes the school liaison police officers, developed and implemented new safety procedures for building
intruder scenarios, conducted police-led training at every school and recommended safety improvements for all
34 schools and learning centers in the district.
Safety equipment – In addition to the entrance modifications, the task force is recommending replacement of
outdated analog video surveillance cameras, an upgrade to all exterior door controls and installation of
emergency response buttons in the main office at all schools.
Site safety – The recommendations also call for site safety improvements at 16 schools to improve site access,
student drop-off/pick-up areas and parking lots to increase the separation between cars and buses and vehicles
and pedestrians outside the school. Schools included are Cedar Park, Deerwood, Diamond Path, Glacier Hills,
Highland, Northview, Parkview, Red Pine, Rosemount and Southview elementary schools; Black Hawk,
Rosemount, Scott Highlands and Valley middle schools, and Apple Valley and Rosemount high schools.
2. SPACE FOR LEARNING
Elementary space – The single biggest component of the space recommendations is a new elementary school
to relieve overcrowding in the south-central part of the district; a location for a possible new school has not
been determined. A new elementary would provide space at other elementary schools via attendance-area
adjustments. The task force also recommends a second-phase addition to Parkview Elementary. Construction of
the first-phase addition is already underway to relieve current overcrowding at Parkview that could not wait to
be addressed in the facilities task force process.
Additions for school choice – The task force is recommending additions to the district’s elementary magnet
schools to provide needed elementary space and to increase school-choice options for parents. This would
include Cedar Park Elementary STEM School, Diamond Path Elementary School of International Studies and
Glacier Hills Elementary School of Arts and Science, along with Echo Park and Oak Ridge elementary schools,
which are in the process of becoming magnet schools starting in 2016-17.
STEM improvements – The recommendations support the district’s strategy to increase STEM education
offerings by expanding, renovating and better equipping space at the STEM pathway schools of Cedar Park
Elementary STEM School, Valley Middle School of STEM and Apple Valley High School. The district’s five
other middle schools would also have existing space renovated and equipped to provide additional STEM
programming in the recommendations.
Renovate space to meet standards – The task force is recommending renovation of the entrance to Rosemount
High School and the school’s performing arts learning space to bring them up to district standards. The
recommendations also call for renovation of undersized classrooms that are the result of adding full-day
kindergarten and installation of air conditioning in gymnasiums at Diamond Path, Echo Park and Parkview
elementary schools to meet district standards.
Student furniture – The task force recommends that outdated classroom furniture be replaced at middle
schools and high schools; elementary schools received classroom furniture replacements following the 2004
bond referendum.
3. LEARNING TECHNOLOGY
Technology access – The task force believes increased access to technology is essential to fulfill the vision of
providing a dynamic, personalized learning experience for all students and to prepare students for success in a
digital world. The recommendations call for 1-to-1 access for students in grades 4-12, phased in over three
years, three grades per year, beginning in 2016-17. This implementation would start after two years of beta
classes and would be supported by ongoing professional development to increase teachers’ ability to utilize
digital tools effectively in a 1-to-1 classroom. The task force also recommends increasing the ratio of students to
computers to 3-to-1 in kindergarten through grade 3 and mobile laptop carts at all schools.
Technology infrastructure – The task force recommends upgrading technology infrastructure districtwide,
including expanding WIFI capacity to support increased network usage, replacing an outdated telephone system
and maintaining interactive classroom equipment.
With the School Board’s authorization, the administration has retained The Morris Leatherman Company to
conduct a scientific community survey of 400 randomly-selected district residents to measure the level of public
support for the recommendations and the amount of tax increase they may support to implement them. The
survey will be conducted in early April and results are expected to be presented at the April 27 regular School
Board meeting.
If the board chooses to move forward with any or all of the recommendations, they would likely direct the
administration to prepare a review and comment document detailing the proposed improvements. With the
state’s approval of that document, the board would have until early August to pass a resolution calling for a
referendum question to be added to the Nov. 3, 2015 General Election ballot. The district will already be
conducting a School Board election on Nov. 3.
Members of the Strategic Planning Facilities and Equipment Task Force included chairs Olson representing
Elementary Education, Mark Parr of Secondary Education and Jeff Solomon of Finance and Operations, and
other cabinet-level directors, principals from each level, and coordinators representing the facilities, early
learning, and teaching and learning departments.
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District 196 serves approximately 27,000 students in early childhood, K-12 and special education programs combined,
and offers community education programs for more than 60,000 participants of all ages. District 196 includes all or part
of Rosemount, Apple Valley, Eagan, Burnsville, Coates, Inver Grove Heights, Lakeville and Empire and Vermillion
townships. For more information, visit www.District196.org.