Before any shovel breaks ground, proper planning needs to happen. Over the last 15 years, we’ve built strong connections with public schools through long-range planning, facility assessments, pre-referendum communications, and more. When it comes to construction voter-approved projects, pre-referendum communications are often a vital aspect in project implementation. On Tuesday, February 8, our team was successful in two referendums: Nashwauk-Keewatin Public Schools and Red Lake County Central Public Schools.
Spartans Strong: Nashwauk-Keewatin Public Schools
N-K Administrator Craig Menozzi said, “…this is a significant investment in the future of our community and our children’s education.” With the oldest schools in the state (101 years old), N-K proposed two questions to local voters: 1) a new PreK-12 school and 2) a new community wellness center attached to the new school for a combined total of $47.7 million.
Voters emphatically said “yes” to both questions with a 78% passage rate on Q1 and a 67% passage rate on Q2. Craig added that “it took us a long time to get to this point, but we’re so grateful to have had our community’s support. We’ve had tremendous support from the ICS team.”
RLCC United: Our Students, Our Future at Red Lake County Central Public Schools
RLCC Superintendent Jim Guetter said, “this referendum will provide great opportunities for our students for years to come.” This project invests $14.12 million in additional space for classrooms, learning, and activities, improved science classrooms for hands-on learning, and other improvements including safety, accessibility, and parking.
With a 61% passage rate, Jim added that, “community support and trust are built over time, and everyone is involved in that process – from our students and parents to our staff and our school board. We developed, changed, refined, and solidified our plan several times before bringing it to the public for voter approval.
In addition to passing these two referendums in February 2022, the ICS team partnered with five districts to help pass a total construction cost of $177 million in November 2021. You can read more about our successful November referendums here.
Our team loves to partner with schools on referendum projects like these. Since November 2017, our team has helped pass over $1.3 billion in referendums across the state of Minnesota. Whether you’re just starting to identify your facility and educational needs, gathering feedback, or bringing plans forward for voter approval, our team is ready to help you implement changes in your district – just like Nashwauk-Keewatin and Red Lake County Central.
Northern Minnesota: Jeff Schiltz, Principal
Metro-South Minnesota: Pat Overom, Principal