FAQ for Facilities Project

Yes. The district has a history of partnering with the community to address facility needs:

• 2016: A Facilities Usage Committee helped establish boundaries for Otsego E-8 and Twin Lakes.
• 2019: A Facilities Usage Team reviewed core facilities.
• 2023: A Facilities Review and Planning Committee examined long-term enrollment projections.

*2.24.25 School Board Work Session: History of Community FacilitiesCommittees

The School Board identified a critical need to address student population growth, particularly in the southern end of the District where buildings are nearing capacity. The Board and Task Force’s common goal is to create a long-term plan that ensures high-quality learning experiences for all students.

ISD 728 evaluates student enrollment and growth monthly at both the district and building levels. This process includes tracking:

• Current enrollments and grade-level movement.
• Kindergarten vs. graduating senior numbers.
• Housing data from city partners (zoning, approved starts, infrastructure).

Independent Analysis: In the Summer of 2025, the School Board also hired a private contractor that has been used previously to conduct an independent enrollment and growth analysis to compare against district projections.

By the 1999-2000 school year, Elk River High School (ERHS) had significantly exceeded its intended capacity. The building was serving 1,900 students, creating an urgent need for additional high school space and district-wide infrastructure upgrades. At that time, the District presented a referendum vote to the public to address the overcapacity growth at Elk River High School.

By building Rogers High School and expanding the Zimmerman site to accommodate high schoolers, the district successfully redistributed the student population. This relieved the pressure on Elk River High School, bringing it back down to a manageable functional capacity.

The approved bond was comprehensive, focusing on expansion and modernization across the district:

• New Construction: Building the new Rogers High School and a new Elementary school.
• Additions: A High School addition to the Zimmerman Junior High site.
• Renovations: Major updates to Elk River High School and VandenBerge Junior High (VJH).
• Amenities: Construction of a district swimming pool.

Beyond immediate construction, the bond included funds to purchase land for three future elementary sites. This proactive approach allowed the district to secure property before land prices rose or available space disappeared due to residential development.

Though there are significant housing construction projects happening in Elk River and in Zimmerman, the growth is not keeping up with the replacement rate ISD 728 schools are experiencing, as older classes are being replaced by the new incoming kindergarten classes. 

Said differently, Elk River and Zimmerman are experiencing a maintained enrollment, or slightly declining rate, that is being maintained by the new construction additions in those communities.  Without that new construction, those communities would likely be experiencing a decline in school enrollments.

While an addition might seem like the quickest fix, the Board must look at the long-term viability of the RHS campus. The primary concern is whether the current site can support the massive infrastructure required for an additional 1,000 students without becoming a "temporary fix" that creates even larger problems in a few years.

Here is a video exploring the Rogers High School expansion discussion further. 

The current RHS acreage is considered undersized for a high school of the projected scale. Expanding the building footprint would trigger a "domino effect" requiring additional land for:

• Building Footprint: The physical space for classrooms and specialized labs.
• Traffic & Access: New access points and improved traffic control to handle the influx of hundreds of additional cars and buses.
• Parking & Fields: Existing parking lots and athletic fields would likely need to be destroyed to make room for the building, requiring them to be relocated to new, adjacent land.

The school doesn't exist in a vacuum; it is tied to the city's infrastructure. Key hurdles include:

• Roadway Capacity: The surrounding roads (such as the 141st intersection) may not be able to handle the increased traffic volume without massive, expensive upgrades.
• Adjacent Properties: Since the current site is small, the district would likely need to acquire neighboring land, which is not always possible or cost-effective.
• MDE Approval: The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) has strict guidelines on school site sizes and safety that an overcrowded campus might not meet.

Even if the land were available, the construction itself presents significant "hidden" costs and hurdles:

• Infrastructure Support: You can't just add classrooms; you must also expand "support spaces" like the cafeteria, locker rooms, gyms, and maintenance facilities to prevent bottlenecks.
• Storm Water & Safety: Larger buildings and more pavement mean more runoff, likely requiring expensive underground storm chambers. Additionally, new construction must meet modern storm shelter codes.
• Operational Strain: The school would have to function as a construction site for 3–4 years, which creates significant safety risks and educational disruptions for current students.

This is the core question for the Board. If the district spends tens of millions on an RHS addition today, but the population continues to grow, the campus will eventually hit a hard limit where no more growth is possible. In that scenario, a new high school would still be required, making the previous investment in an addition less efficient than building a new site from the start.

The 2025 Facilities Task Force and the ISD 728 School Board reviewed the option of boundary adjustments to accommodate the enrollment and capacity concerns in our Southern Schools. As the current and projected enrollments were reviewed, it was determined that boundary line changes alone would only be a temporary solution and would only last for roughly 5 years before the District-wide capacity would be over 100%.  In addition to the temporary nature of the solution, the impact on students, families, and communities is a concern.  While this concept is not completely off the table the School Board has directed administration to develop more permanent and long-term solutions.

High School Examples:

(SLIDES HERE)

ISD 728 Communications has created a video breaking down the Boundary Line Change option. 

Yes, grade spans in ISD 728 schools affect the total capacity of each school building.  The Community Facilities Task Force and the ISD 728 School Board have reviewed grade-span options in light of enrollment and capacity solutions. 

2025-2026 ISD 728 Configurations:

*Southern ISD 728 schools made the change for 5th grade to attend Middle Schools in fall of 2022 to help address Southern school elementary capacity pressures. This action was part of the 2019 Community Facilities Committee recommendations.

Typically, class size in ISD 728 has been more impacted as we dedicate staff to student ratios. For example, in the 2019 referendum we made a commitment to maintain class sizes at ___.  That being said, a district average of 25 doesn't mean every room has 25 desks. It means that across the entire district, we maintain a specific ratio of students to teachers. To provide the best environment for our youngest learners, we intentionally keep lower numbers in early grades (like Kindergarten), which necessitates slightly higher numbers in upper grades (like 4th or 5th).

We use a weighted approach to class sizes. Research shows that smaller ratios have the most significant impact during the foundational years of reading and social development.

Here is an example of how a "25-student average" might look across a typical elementary school: