The Charles City School District has turned to Decorah for help in figuring out what to do with an old school building

A group of residents of the Charles City School District has just completed its study of the options facing the school district because of a middle school that was built in the 1930s.

The Mason City Globe Gazette and the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier are both reporting that a committee of citizens, School Board members, administrators and teachers met 24 times to prepare its report to the school board.

And because the issue involved the fate of a school building built in the 1930s, the committee members visited Decorah to tour school buildings here.  The group also visited New Hampton and Waverly as part of its deliberations about whether the Charles City School District should build a new school or renovate the old school building.

The group estimated a new building would cost $16.3 million, while a renovation of the existing building would cost $19.9 million.

So which alternative did the study group recommend?   It gave the school board an exhaustive list of the pros and cons of each option--but did not recommend either option, because the school board had asked it not to  make a recommendation.