Tom Ford Star Tribune Staff Writer

September 8, 2004 SBELLE0908 in the Star Tribune

As exchanges got testy at a recent public forum about the Belle Plaine school district building proposal that will go before voters Tuesday, Superintendent Kelly Smith implored the crowd.

"We're out of space, folks," Smith told the three dozen attendees. "We need to get to a situation where we have space."

Few in booming Belle Plaine question the need for the district's $30.8 million plan to build a new elementary school and expand Belle Plaine High by 2006-07.

Some of the district's 1,400 students already are spilling out of the three Belle Plaine schools and into eight portable classrooms, a problem that will worsen with projected enrollment increases of about 100 students per year until at least 2008-09.

Yet how to create more room has been a heated and unresolved issue for three years.

After two divisive bond votes in 2002 and 2003, the stakes are raised for next week's referendum.

In the previous years, voters rejected $35 million-plus plans to build a 900-student school for seventh- to 12th-graders.

"This is a big issue, and I know not one plan is going to satisfy everyone in this room," Smith said at the recent forum.

Proponents of the new proposal say that it would result in an overall capacity of 1,900 students, about a hundred more than the past two plans.

And, they say, the proposal is cheaper than the previous plans and includes a long-term vision of what to do as enrollment reaches certain levels, up to about 5,000 students.

Yet some worry that the new proposal leaves too many loose ends involving safety and land for a new elementary building.

Many students now have to move between schools each day -- crossing an often busy West Prairie Street in the process -- because of classroom shortages and the fact that only Belle Plaine Elementary has a kitchen and full cafeteria.

An expanded Belle Plaine High -- where seventh- to 12th-graders would attend -- would have its own cafeteria.

But the district would continue to hold classes at Belle Plaine Junior High, the district's oldest school at 75 years. As a result, some high school students would still have to move back and forth.

"That this plan does not eliminate crossing that street is a concern for me," said Marilyn Moriarty, who has two daughters in Belle Plaine schools.

She said she wants to support the plan but is struggling over how to vote, especially because of the safety issue.

"I have to answer the question, can I live with this

" she said. "I don't know yet."

Similarly torn is Belle Plaine resident Dennis Moriarty.

While he wants to help assure that his grandchildren have enough space at school, he thinks the plan would cost a lot more than the $30.8 million advertised price, he said.

School leaders intend to build the new elementary school on 21 acres of land essentially donated to the district.

The site, about a mile southwest of the existing schools, is owned by Lyman Development. A deal to buy the land for $10, along with the costs for nearby road and utility upgrades, has not been finalized.

Dennis Moriarty said he fears that if the deal is not nailed down before the vote, the district or city of Belle Plaine would lose their ability to control infrastructure costs or make sure the land is available.

"By going forward today, without having things clarified, they lose all bargaining power," he said.

School board member John Mahoney said that he feels "very confident that Lyman will come through." If not, he and other school officials said there are other planned housing developments where the district might look for land.

Though it would be a last-ditch option, the district already owns 60 acres of land just north of the Lyman site, which the district hopes to eventually use as a spot for a new high school.

The $30.8 million cost does include about $1.3 million reserved for site improvement expenses, Smith said.

If the plan is turned down, school leaders said they don't know what they'll do next.

Tom Ford is at tford@startribune.com.

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