"We think we have a better plan." School board presents new proposal on elementary school to Decorah City Council

The Decorah School Board has a changed proposal for a new elementary school on the city-owned land near City Hall.  The new site plan--unveiled to the Decorah City Council Monday night--calls for ripping up the tennis courts and softball diamond on Claiborne Drive and building a new school that would house prekindergarten through third grade students.

The site plan calls for separate drop off areas for students in cars and on buses.  It also calls for tearing down the current John Cline School and creating two acres of green space.

Decorah Shareholders president Mark Lovelace told city council members the new elementary school is "a complex issue with no simple solution."  But he said the school board's latest proposal is "an opportunity for Decorah to be a model."

School board member Brian Petersburg suggested a five-person task force be created to work on the relocation of the softball field and tennis courts.  There would be two city council members, two school board members and a Park-Rec Department representative on the board.

Decorah Mayor Lorraine Borowski said the proposal has "a lot of moving parts," but suggested the city and school district could use the issue to do some visioning about the future of Decorah.

In exchange for getting the city-owned property on which to build a new school, the school district would pay the city $700,000, would give it 28 acres of school district property along the Upper Iowa River and would consider giving the city West Side School as well.

Monday night's session was informational only--no action was taken.