Progress being made with $24 million Hayfield School building project
Published 7:59 am Tuesday, June 12, 2018
- The exterior rendering of what the new additions for Hayfield Community Schools’ $24 million building project would look like at the end of construction. Photo provided by Hayfield Community Schools.
Hayfield Community Schools is seeing progress with its new building project.
The new building addition began taking shape after the groundbreaking in April. Superintendent Gregg Slaathaug said there was “a lot of demo” currently occurring at Hayfield High School. All the lights were being upgraded with LED, new HVAC and sprinkler systems and air duct installations. The whole front of the high school, media center and cafeteria walls were completely taken out. The exact square footage of the new addition was not available, but Slaathaug said the construction is “doubling the size of our cafeteria.”
This progress comes after district taxpayers voted yes on a $14.3 million building referendum in 2017, which provided some major upgrades as part of the overall $24 million building project. About $10 million was expected to fix infrastructure and modify classrooms, according to a previous story. Hayfield had also received a $9.7 million low-interest Qualified Zone Academy Bonds grant and was one out of only two districts statewide to land this grant through the Minnesota Department of Education.
This bond has a zero percent interest rate and was expected to save the district taxpayers about $4 million in interest over the life of the bond. Since the 2015-16 school year, Hayfield had studied and assessed the state of their facilities with air quality, acoustics and lighting and how these affected student achievement and staff performance.
The staff and community were also involved in providing additional input and feedback in order to prioritize the addressing of the schools’ needs.
About $4.3 million of the funds is being used to renovate and expand the school cafeteria, install new security measures at entrances, and install other common area upgrades as well as create a new school-age child care room. Around 30 students — along with a six-person custodial staff — helped move furniture out of the high school on Memorial Day, which Slaathaug cited as the contributing factor that pushed the district a week-and-a-half ahead of schedule on its construction, despite this past spring’s inclement weather.
“We are hoping to move things back into the classrooms on the week of Aug. 20 in the high school,” the superintendent said. “There will be continued work throughout the school year and (crews) will be working where students are not. Next year, they’re going to be working on the elementary school.”
A rendering of what Hayfield High School’s new cafeteria would look like at the end of construction as part of the $24 million building project that’s currently in progress.
Photo provided by Hayfield Community Schools.
The undertaking at the school is a two-summer project. In summer 2019, the elementary school and kitchen that services both the elementary and high school will be completely renovated. The elementary school will be gutted — except for the offices and gymnasium — and the classrooms will be rebuilt to a regular size as opposed to their triangular layouts. The bathrooms and offices will also be updated. Although construction at the elementary school would continue during the 2019 school year, Slaathaug emphasized that students’ learning would not be conflicted with the work that’s being done.
“I think it’s coming along fabulously,” he said. “Everyone has been understanding and patient. They know what it’s going to be like and what the end product will be. UNESCO and all the contractors have been fabulous in working with the school. We are so thankful to the taxpayers in District 203 for making this a reality.”
