The old school building housing the Bayfield Primary School is being used to ease overcrowding at Bayfield Elementary school.
The Primary School was deemed unsuitable for student occupancy 19 years ago, and classes there were discontinued.
The Bayfield School District has applied for a state BEST grant to help pay for a new school for grades 3-5 and major renovations at Bayfield Elementary to accommodate grades K-2 and get all students out of the old Primary School building once and for all.
The school board gave the final go-ahead Tuesday night to submit the grant application.
Marty Zwisler, Bayfield School District owner’s rep, showed the application, a stack of paper 2 to 3 inches thick. The goal is to provide irresistible documentation of the district’s need to get kindergartners and first-graders out of the old building.
The application is for $8.57 million, dialed back from the $11 million the district was eligible to ask for as a way to improve chances for approval.
Zwisler described the process for evaluating applications using a point system. There could be 50 to 60 competing applications. The ones with the most points get funded until the available money runs out. “My understanding is some applications won’t even make the initial cut,” Zwisler said.
The No. 1 priority for evaluating applications is safety hazards, health concerns and security issues, he said. “We nailed it there. Next is over-crowding, moving from temporary (i.e. modulars) to permanent facilities. We’re doing that as well. Third is more technology in the schools. Our focus is on those top priorities.”
The grant for a new school and a renovation of Bayfield Elementary is part of a bigger capital project proposed for Bayfield schools.
The entire project is almost $39 million. If the district gets the BEST grant, the remainder of around $30 million will need voter approval of a bond issue. The district will know about the BEST grant this summer and is considering a bond vote in November.
District enrollment on the official count day for state per-pupil funding, on or near Oct. 1, 2015, was 1,327, said Bayfield School Superintendent Troy Zabel. Since then, it’s grown to 1,402. “We’re bulging at the seams in a lot of areas,” he said. “Something is bringing folks into the district.”
