BHS south campus designs get go-ahead

Brainerd School Board members approved designs for the south campus at Brainerd High School during their meeting Monday, Sept. 28.

South campus will be transformed into space for special education and transitional programming, while ongoing construction on the north campus will allow for all traditional high school students to be housed there.

STARS, or Students Transition and Reach Success, Paul Bunyan Transition Plus and Level IV programs from Lincoln Education Center will all be housed on south campus.

Level IV programs provide a separate school setting for students with significant behavioral or mental health issues. Students receive additional academic, behavioral and mental health programming in this alternate setting. Paul Bunyan Transition Plus and STARS are programs for adult students with disabilities aged 18-21. These students have completed their high school education and are taking the next steps into adulthood.

Breakout rooms will provide staff or representatives from outside service groups to meet with students individually or in small groups.

Every classroom will have alcoves, which are spaces without doors but large enough for students to be separated from visual distractions or reset themselves. They will still be able to hear and perhaps see the instruction still happening.

Administrators for all three programs will share an office suite.

In terms of safety, there will be three secure entrances. Lincoln students will have their own designated entrance on the east side of the building, while STARS and Transitional Plus students will enter to the north of the building. This entrance will serve them throughout the day as students need to come and go. Those two entrances will be locked to the general public after the first bell rings. A third, main entrance on the northeast side of the building will serve visitors throughout the day. Visitors will be directed to the reception area upon entrance and must go through a check-in process before gaining access to the rest of the building. All interior and exterior doors will be lockable.

The project will go out for bid in December. Construction is set to start in the spring of 2021 and wrap up by fall 2022.

North campus construction is slated to be completed in the fall of 2021.

In other business Monday, the school board:

Authorized new hires: Lexus Back, elementary distance learning teacher; Destiny Carrier, child care program assistant; Madylin Clemmer, transportation; Gage Cluever, child care program assistant; Gloria Dalby, districtwide special education paraprofessional substitute; John Derksen, COVID-19 substitute at Forestview Middle School; Angela Hamilton, COVID-19 program coordinator; Courtney Augstad, districtwide nurse substitute; Angela Holmstrom, COVID-19 substitute at Riverside Elementary School; Jeffrey Lewis, COVID-19 substitute at Forestview, Stacy Littman, COVID-19 substitute at Forestview; Stephen Maas, behavior management specialist at Forestview and junior high assistant boys soccer coach; Kathryn Moll-McAlister, districtwide substitute; Maureen O’Connor, districtwide substitute; Katrinamarie Ostergren, special education paraprofessional at Forestview; Lonna Rozinka, special education paraprofessional at Forestview; Erin Simpson, districtwide nurse substitute; Bobby Solarz, districtwide substitute; and Andrea Veith, districtwide special education paraprofessional substitute.

Accepted grants and donations to the district: A saxophone from Lori Schweitzberger for the Forestview band department; $250 from Lord of Life Church for the Forestview food pantry; $500 from Nisswa American Legion for teacher supplies at Nisswa Elementary School; $705 from Crow Wing Recycling for classroom needs at Nisswa; $300 from Lake Hubert Women’s Club for classroom needs at Nisswa; $20 from Southwestern Fundraiser for classroom needs at Nisswa; $480 from Confidence Learning Center for classroom needs at Nisswa.

Heard there will be a candidate forum for school board members running in the upcoming election at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, at The Woods Event Center. A quorum of school board members may be present.

THERESA BOURKE may be reached at theresa.bourke@brainerddispatch.com or 218-855-5860. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DispatchTheresa .

1/3: A design rendering shows a breakout space in the STARS wing of Brainerd High School south campus after an upcoming construction project. Designs courtesy of Wold Architects and Engineers, ICS and Brainerd Public Schools.

2/3: A design rendering shows a breakout space in the Paul Bunyan Transition Plus program wing of Brainerd High School south campus after an upcoming construction project. Designs courtesy of Wold Architects and Engineers, ICS and Brainerd Public Schools.

3/3: A design rendering shows a life skills lab in the Lincoln Education Center wing of Brainerd High School south campus after an upcoming construction project. Designs courtesy of Wold Architects and Engineers, ICS and Brainerd Public Schools.