More reader input on Decorah school facilities

(decorahnews.com readers continue to weigh in on facilities in the Decorah Community School District):

Both Lise and Michael have e-mailed decorahnews.com with a suggestion that has been raised before.  Here's Lise's e-mail:

How about the Fairgrounds moves out of town and John Cline is moved to that site (meaning rebuilt there)?  That would place the school on more ground, in town, and near a main street.  It would also remove the obnoxious noise from the race cars from the neighborhood.  Just a thought.

Here's Michael's e-mail: "If there is a need to build new, why not build a new elementary school on the Winneshiek County Fairgrounds?

Multi-use: School is in session during fall, winter, and spring months, and the fairground is primarily in use during the summer months. The collaboration would be similar to the way the local arts and crafts show and the KDEC garden show use the middle school and high school--just for a longer period of time.  Since I doubt teachers would appreciate cows being parked in classrooms, most of the animal barns for the fair would need to remain as is, but the classrooms/gym/cafeteria/restrooms of a new school could be used for displays, booths, and kitchen facilities during the fair. On the flip side, the generous outdoor areas of the fairgrounds could be used/configured by the school during the fall, winter, and spring months.

Cost: If the school was designed to have paved drives and parking lots the fairgrounds could use, plus facility access as described before, maybe the county would be willing to allow a major community asset to occupy a portion of the grounds in a form of barter. Major utilities like sewer and electric already exist at the fairgrounds, and I believe the fiber optic lines run along nearby Montgomery Street. On the downside, several nearby properties might need to be purchased to make the building footprint feasible.

Location: The new school would be situated in Decorah, and near the bike trail loop to encourage walking/biking to school. This location is near a major thoroughfare (Montgomery Street/Water Street), but slightly off of it too. Using this location would allow the high school, middle school, and elementary to be within walking/biking distance of each other, but not on top of each other."

Kevin has a different suggestion--Highly efficient rural schools, an abbreviated model of what was used 50-60 years ago, but Internet linked: "Decentralization and development of charter schools seems to be a new trend in many parts of the country. With the positive advancements in technologies internet classroom settings are available for out reaching areas of a district.
               
Data can be collected of the importance or lack thereof of extracurricular activities (sports) and after school programs that require extra transportation to a centralized school that can have facility for that.

A good result of decentralization would be smaller class sizes and better span of control for the teacher, lower energy use in transportation, more tailored curriculum and choice of how a pupil integrates in the school.

Energy consumption may not be of concern currently with the low cost of fuel but environmental impact is.  Less trips the better."

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