Public engages in forum at Minster

MINSTER - More than 50 community members attended a Minster Local Schools forum board work session Wednesday to get an update on a recent land exchange with the village and provide input on a possible building expansion project.

In addition to the school board, superintendent Josh Meyer and building principals, representatives from design firm Garmann Miller discussed how the land exchange happened, what the feedback process looks like and potential expansion options.

Minster school board members at Monday's regular meeting approved an exchange agreement between the Village of Minster and the board of education for the transfer of 7.3 acres of village property to Minster Local Schools, and 11.446 acres of school-owned land adjacent to Four Seasons Park to the village.

The property the school district receives in the transfer includes a tennis court, shelter house and parking lot. A swimming pool and its parking lot will remain village property.

School officials previously stated the additional land is needed to meet possible future building needs arising from growing enrollment. The village will receive 11.446 acres of farmland from the Edward J. Dirksen revocable trust purchased by the school district at a cost of $572,369 or $50,006 per acre.

The challenges the district has noted include increasing enrollment with too little room, educational delivery needs, an increasing special needs demand, a lack of activity space and circulation, per a presentation slide from Garmann Miller.

To gauge community input, residents participated in an activity where they were each allotted an imaginary $11.50 and had to budget their preferred projects with provided stickers labeled $5, $3, $2, $1 and 50 cents.

The majority appeared to prioritize the teacher-to-student ratio category, with 23 people budgeting their $5 sticker on the area for a total of $115.

"To us, I would interpret that they're most concerned with making sure we have the classroom space and learning space," Becky Baumer, an interior designer with the firm, said after the meeting.

Minster Local Schools' enrollment has increased by about 60-70 students over the last four to five years, which at the district amounts to the addition of an entire grade level, Meyer told The Daily Standard this week. In the next 10 years, the district projects an additional 155 students.

As well, he said, the district has faced an increased need for space to house services like speech pathology and counseling.

"What maybe most people may not think about or may not be aware of is the need for spaces that aren't your traditional classrooms. We're talking things like counselors, speech and language pathologists, occupational physical therapists, services like that where they're currently either in a shared space or they're in a closet or a storage room somewhere," he had said. "It's not ideal - some of the spaces those people are working out of to provide services for our students."

Other concern areas the community noted the district should address included educational needs, specifically space constraints, a lack of activity spaces for band and athletic storage, and circulation, or the increased student traffic between buildings.

Design officials noted that the group's activity findings on Wednesday were similar to the 30-member task force when they did the same exercises. The task force also prioritized safety and security between buildings.

Meyer heavily stressed that no decisions have been made.

The next steps include task force meetings on Sept. 30 and Oct. 28 and a community meeting Nov. 11.