In the last few months, Fargo Public Schools (FPS) has been engaged in a long-range facility plan. According to the school board, a long-range plan is “A district-wide long-term plan for facilities where data collection is focused on the facility conditions and adequacy of learning environments as well as utilization of facilities.” FPS’s project started on Aug. 29, 2023, and the school board will have their final report on Mar. 26, 2024.
As for the purpose, the school district states it is “to identify and prioritize the current and future needs of our district’s facilities.”
The district offers three options for over 15 years. Option A is $500-550 million and would focus on the condition needs of all schools in the district. Option B is $625-675 million and would focus on condition needs and educational adequacy. Option C is $600-650 million and would focus on phasing out older, outdated facilities through consolidation, demolition, new construction and renovations.
The board’s proposals include such extensive and expensive projects that it’s making staff, students, and parents question why. One commenter on FPS’s open survey added, “I would scrap Option C as the costs appear too far understated for current building costs in our region. I think the FPS board and district need to look internally first to see where they are lacking as none of this changes the fact we have the highest budget and lowest scoring of area districts. Where is our tax money going? Now you want to tax us more through bonds?”
In FPS’ January survey results, over 2,000 responses were recorded from students, FPS employees, and other Fargo residents. The public was able to comment on the proposed plan and several of the anonymous comments focused on the same issues: funding. A few of these comments addressed the financial side: “Public education is important but you are already putting a heavy financial burden on taxpayers” while another said, “This can’t be funded without taking away from programs or drastically increasing taxes,” and another person commented, “I think we need some assurance that this is an actual need instead of just another want that they want taxpayers to fund unquestioningly.”
Ameresco, HPM, and SEH have assisted the school district in grading the schools for the long-range facility plan. According to the Preliminary Energy Audit Report, the companies have their own areas they focus on: Ameresco’s facility condition assessment, HPM’s educational adequacy study, and SEH Engineering’s Architectural and ADA compliance investigation. The consultants went through all the schools, inspecting them to see how much it would cost to fix the issues they found. The companies concluded that the average conditions of district properties today are considered poor and in 2024, will be critical without improvements. As for the companies themselves, their background makes it interesting why they would rate what they did.
Ameresco is a “leading cleantech integrator and renewable energy asset developer, owner and operator” according to their website. HPM is a construction company that houses most of their locations down south. SEH is an engineering, environmental, and planning company that has government, commercial, and industrial clients. It’s their job to see if it is more expensive to renovate than completely replace.
Ultimately, the school board can only go further with the public’s approval and support. The school district states on its website under the long-range plan section that staff and students all have a voice. If this long-range plan doesn’t sound to your liking, make sure to make your voice heard. Keep an eye out for more in depth coverage about Fargo Public Schools proposal in our next issue.