Cook County ISD 166 Schools to host two community update meetings on proposed facility improvements this week
May 01, 2024 07:59AM ● By Content Editor
By Laura Durenberger-Grunow - Boreal Community Media - April 29, 2024
Cook County ISD 166 Schools will host two public community meetings this week to review the proposed facility improvement plans and provide an update on the project as a whole. One meeting will occur in Grand Portage on Wednesday, May 1, from 6:30-7:30, in the Log Building, and the second in the ISD 166 Cafeteria on Thursday, May 2, from 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm.
Cook County Schools launched the facility improvement project last fall in partnership with ICS, a consultant that works with Minnesota schools to help improve physical spaces. Since then, they've conducted a review of buildings and grounds to identify areas that needed improvement with a comprehensive facilities and grounds study. They also looked at population trends and census data to predict future student enrollment numbers and trends. Additionally, they reviewed school spaces to make sure they met the guidelines set by the Minnesota Department of Education.
To hear from the community, staff, and students, the district held 10 listening sessions. This helped them understand what improvements people wanted to see in the schools.
All information from these past assessments, listening sessions, and other reviews can be found on the Vikings Vision website, a site dedicated to providing public updates about the facilities improvement project.
In January 2024, the ISD 166 school board approved hiring DSGW Architecture, a Minnesota firm that specializes in "hand-crafting healthcare, education, commercial, and indigenous architecture," according to its website. DSGW will help identify solutions in conjunction with ISD 166 and ICS for facility improvements, and to determine if a bond referendum will be needed this May or early June.
Chris Lindholm, Superintendent of ISD 166, told Boreal Community Media that at the community meetings this week, "DSGW and ICS will briefly review the input and information collected through the facilities assessment and community input meetings that took place in the fall, review the proposed solutions that have been developed over the past three months working with the Project Oversight Committee. Lastly, they will review the overall cost of the possible solutions."
The in-person meetings will not be recorded, but updates will continue to be added to the Vikings Vision website as they are available. To provide feedback or input about the project, contact any of the school board members, Superintendent Chris Lindholm at 218-387-2271, or the form on the Vikings Vision website.
Image: Cook County School District 166
