Proposed School Changes In Little Falls Aim To Save $1 Million

LITTLE FALLS (WJON News) -- More major changes could be coming to a Central Minnesota School District. Little Falls Community Schools is looking into the possibility of transitioning all their 7th and 8th graders from the Middle School to the High School, and 6th graders to Lindbergh Elementary. Moving the students out of the Middle School would save the district about $1 million a year. On April 14th, Little Falls voters will decide on a two-question referendum.

Little Falls Community Schools

What is the school district asking for?

Question 1 is asking voters to approve over $34 million to remodel and update the high school so it could accommodate the 7th and 8th-grade students. Question 2 is requesting over $9.5 million to build a new gymnasium at the high school. Superintendent Greg Johnson says the Middle School is over 60 years old:

"Our high school is the newest building that we have in Little Falls and that was built in 1972 and so when you have buildings that are 1972 and older, obviously like a home or business the maintenance in maintaining those facilities begins to add up so if we can be more efficient with our students in one building versus two and not have to maintain buildings and be able to generate cost savings it's really a win win for school district and taxpayers."

What will happen to the Middle School if the referendum passes?

Johnson says the district is in discussions with the city about entering a joint powers agreement on the Middle School:

"The City of Little Falls, we've been in conversations with them, nothing is official, but the city has outdated facilities as well, especially our police department they are in dire need of space and the city offices as well so we would likely enter into a joint powers agreement with the city to be able to share facility use with the Middle School. We still need a pool, and there's some other programming that could take place in a third of the building, where the city then could take over two-thirds of that."

Paul Habstritt, WJON

Johnson says if an agreement can be reached, it would take advantage of the space, help both the city and the school district, and save the taxpayers money by not having to construct new buildings. If the referendum passes, the Middle School students would transition to the other schools in the 2027-2028 school year.

Little Falls Arts & Crafts Show

The Little Falls Arts & Crafts show is one of the last big events of the summer. The show continues to draw people in from around the state and crafters from across the country. Check out these photos from its 51st year.