ISD 181 Viewpoint: Listening to the voices of our community

"Turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, each and every day." Since becoming your superintendent, I have become clearly aware that this is the norm at Brainerd Public Schools. I am very fortunate to work in a school district where our great communities are passionate supporters of highest quality education. Brainerd Public Schools' Blueprint 181 is investing, growing, and leading the state of Minnesota through innovation, opportunity, and success for all learners!

I believe that listening to community input is an important part of my job as superintendent. As we move forward with our work to create our future blueprint for our school district, your voice is critical.

When I arrived in July, a community-led team was finalizing a comprehensive evaluation of our twelve district facilities. After more than two years of work, the members of the committee identified the program and maintenance needs that our staff and students will benefit from in the future. The report, which the school board approved on Nov. 14, 2016, recommended a guiding framework for our existing buildings to help achieve our district's educational goals.

This comprehensive report is available on the district's website at isd181.org. This report also serves as a launching point for broad discussion of the options for addressing our needs.

The overall goal of our plan is to provide: Facilities that promote innovation, opportunity, and success for all learners through the implementation of the following eight district objectives:

• Safe and secure facilities;

• Mechanical and educational adequacy updates;

• Space required for enhancing best practice instruction and high-quality 21st Century educational learning

opportunities;

• Create spaces that promote robust opportunities in the areas of academics, arts, activities, and athletics;

• Increased community collaboration, ownership, and workforce development;

• Visionary technology integration;

• Transparency, engagement, and community trust-building; and

• Highest quality educational opportunities for our taxpayers' generous investment.

Increasing enrollment creates a sense of urgency, but building the best facilities plan requires input from all corners of the community. Hearing your voices will make the final plan even better. Although there is no guarantee that we can afford to implement all of the suggested recommendations, we do know that obtaining input from constituents to develop a single long-range plan is the most effective approach to setting priorities.

The school board asked our leadership team to take the next steps to further develop the Comprehensive Facilities Plan, which we are calling Blueprint 181. On Feb. 13, 2017, after a public bid process, the school board approved a resolution to execute a contract with Foster, Jacobs, and Johnson Inc.; Widseth, Smith, Nolting; and Kraus-Anderson Construction to manage our upcoming process.

The Blueprint 181 process follows the six phases of Facility Plan Execution: Phase 1-Comprehensive District Communications Planning; Phase 2-Stakeholder Engagement: Internal & External Listening Sessions; Phase 3-Potential Surveys & Assessments; and Phase 4-Develop Project Scope Options & Alternatives.

Once the school board has determined the project scope and alternatives, we will execute the final two phases: Phase 5-Bond Referendum Election Process; and Phase 6-Comprehensive Construction Management Services. The final phase will only occur if local residents approve the bond referendum.

In February, district staff began a series of meetings to listen to the comments of our stakeholders. Sessions with community members, teachers, building staff, students will continue for the next several months. Any resident interested in hearing more about the long-range facility plan and wanting to provide input is invited to attend the community listening sessions that will be advertised and held beginning in April.

I will continue to provide updates through the district's website and the Brainerd Dispatch. I will also meet with any community group wanting to hear more about the district and our planning. In addition, representatives from Foster, Jacobs, and Johnson Inc.; Widseth, Smith, Nolting; and Kraus-Anderson Construction will be giving monthly updates at each of the regular meetings of the school board beginning in March 2017. This month's report addressed findings from the 41 internal listening sessions that have taken place thus far. We invite you to attend the regular meetings of the school board, which are held at 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month, to hear of the exciting district developments.

If you have questions or concerns, please email us at info@isd181.org or call 218-454-6900. We want to hear your ideas for how we, together as a community, can enhance our local schools!

Thank you very much for your interest and for all that you do to support Brainerd Public Schools!