Decorah School Board evaluates sites for new elementary facilities

The Decorah Community School Board is trying to determine the best site for new Decorah elementary facilities.

Their closed meeting Wednesday night included using a site selection matrix to evaluate properties. Superintendent Mike Haluska said the Board discussed five properties in the closed session, and will discuss two more properties at their regular monthly meeting next Monday. Those properties would not involve an acquisition cost, so do not have the same need for private board discussion.

StruXture Architects aided in the development of the matrix that is intended to help the Board evaluate each property on 12 different criteria, with a set number of potentially assessed points for each criteria. The criteria include, in rank order of importance: Safety (20 points), Location (15), Environment (10), Capital Cost (10), Topography (10), Size and Shape (10), Accessibility (10), Public Services (3), Utilities (3), Maintenance Cost (3), Availability (3), and Public Acceptance (3).

A detailed outline of each criteria can be found on the School Board meeting agenda, via:

http://www.webschooltools.com/schools/Decorah/BoardMeeting/login.php

(Then follow the links: Public User – Go to Meeting – Special School Board – Discussion.)