"Numerous moving parts" in Decorah School Board's discussion of school building needs

Decorah School Board members say just installing air conditioning at John Cline School is not a good long-range solution to the school district's building needs

Members of the Decorah School Board agree that there are a lot of factors to consider in determining what kind of elementary school faciliities the district needs in the future.

While the five school board members Wednesday night agreed with School Board Chair Ron Fadness' statement that "We can't do nothing," they are a long way away from agreeing on what should be done.

"It's a complicated issue...there are numerous moving parts," said school board member John Hjelle.  One major moving part is the future of the North Winneshiek School District, which is sending its 7th and 8th grade students to Decorah starting with the 2017-2018 school year--but faces an uncertain long-range future.

While school board member Brian Petersburg thinks North Winneshiek eventually will become part of the Decorah Community School District, "I don't even know if North Winn knows (when that will happen," he concluded.

Unlike many surrounding school districts, Decorah is dealing with growing or at least stable school enrollments.  Superintendent Mike Haluska says the 2017-2018 school year might be a stressful one because the arrival of 7th and 8th grade students from North Winneshiek will coincide with the school year when the current classes with the largest number of students will be going to school at Decorah Middle School.

Hjelle said he wants the school facility issue "thrown out to the public," but an intermediate step might be to have the school district's Shareholders group help to study the issue.  That group meets February 2nd.