Mt. Pleasant School Board weighs cost of central office move

MT. PLEASANT — The Mt. Pleasant Community School Board discussed relocating its central office and homeschool office into the district-owned space on the former Iowa Wesleyan campus as part of a broader long-term facilities planning effort.

This discussion during the June 30 board meeting raised questions about costs, priorities and how the move fits into larger master planning efforts.

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According to Superintendent John Henriksen, many of the initial plans, even before the official Master Plan, included intentions of moving the central office and homeschool office into buildings on the former Iowa Wesleyan campus purchased by the district nearly two years ago.

Henriksen explained to the board during a work session time in the meeting that the plan has been to move central office to the lower level of the activity center and the homeschool assistance program office to the lower level of the chapel.

“This is not so much about talking about the specifics of the plan itself,” Henriksen said. “It is just about gauging where we are at with potentially moving those offices and getting out of a leased space and getting into doing the remodel and moving.”

The district currently leases office space for about $46,380 per year. Over the duration of paying for the current office space, the district has paid over $300,000 in just under 10 years. This lease includes space for the homeschool assistance program, as well. Henriksen said the district has leased office space since at least 1996.

According to MPCSD Board President Angie Blint, a rough estimate for the needed renovations to move would come in around $660,000. This comes in at approximately $200 per square foot, which Blint says is in line with similar projects.

When it comes to paying for this project, Henriksen says the district would use its penny sales tax dollars “for all aspects of this.”

Board Member Derke Mullin gave some of his own input on the cost. According to Mullin, after summer maintenance projects the penny sales tax account is left with nearly $3 million.

“That’s a substantial balance to be carrying when it is the penny sales tax that is meant to provide facilities for schools,” he said.

With that potential high-dollar price tag attached to needed renovations, not all board members were completely sold on the idea.

While MPCSD Board Member Josh Maher stated he understood the district’s desire to get away from renting, he was not in complete agreement with the move in the near future.

“If we have $800,000 to throw around is the central office really the place we want to throw it right now?” he questioned.

Newest Board Member Mark Overberg expressed his own concerns.

“I’ve been thinking about this over the last few days and I kind of put it back into the business sense,” Overberg said. “Pay it back in five years. If you can spend $250,000 to get it moved over there, I am for it. But if we can’t pay it back in five years, it's not good business sense.”

Some of the cost associated with needed remodels is already accounted for as part of the master planning.

Several board members raised concerns about whether the new office space would meet the district’s operational and security needs. Mullin explained how the proposed layout includes a secure northeast entry, a reception area, and remodeled offices and conference rooms. It would also include a secure room for documents for the homeschool program.

“Security is one of my biggest concerns for this location,” Mullin said.

This would be an upgrade from security in the current rented space for central offices.

As the district enters a new fiscal year, board members indicated they plan to continue gathering data before making any final decisions.

As they do so, the decision remains months away still.

The board took no formal action but asked Henriksen to collect more information from the district’s architect. That includes cost estimates to produce bid documents and a comparison of different renovation options.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com