New collaborative education building proposed for Milaca

A new building is potentially in the cards for the Rum River Special Education Cooperative (RRSEC) to replace its Rum River North location in Milaca.

The education organization spent part of the summer sending representatives to each of the six school district’s school board meetings presenting the idea of the new building in hopes for the project to move forward.

The RRSEC serves six school districts in total, including Milaca, Princeton, Cambridge, Braham, Isle, Mora and Ogilvie. However, the building the organization is looking to replace is its Rum River North location, located across the street from Milaca Schools on Third Avenue Southwest.

According to RRSEC representatives during a visit to the Princeton School Board on Tuesday, Sept. 17, there are multiple reasons they are looking to replace the building.

This includes a lack of a special locking system for student safety, the layout not being conducive for special-education needs, overall appearance, lack of space for recreational activities, owning opposed to leasing a building, and a potential to serve more students.

The building would require the purchase of approximately five acres of land with a kindergarten through eighth grade building and a ninth through 12th grade addition at an estimated 34,000 square feet. The total cost to construct the building is estimated at $14.6 million, which would be divided between all of the six districts based on each district’s size and student population.

The payment of the building would be on a 20-year lease purchase agreement, and 55% would be paid by the districts while the remaining 45% would be paid by non-member district access fees.

In order for the project to move forward, RRSEC would need to have unanimous approval from all six districts. If one district votes against the project, it will not move forward.

According to the RRSEC representatives, Milaca would pay approximately $24,000 from its general fund every year for the duration of the lease purchase agreement, whereas Princeton would pay through a lease levy at either $102,800 or $244,046 per year depending on the lease levy plan selected.

RRSEC has requested that all six districts vote on the project by the end of October. As of Sept. 17, the Braham School Board has already voted to approve the project, while no other districts have voted.

If all six districts vote in approval, designs for the building would begin in November, final levy certifications for each district would take place in December, the lease would be obtained in January, construction bids would be awarded in March, construction would begin in April 2025, and RRSEC would move into the building in September 2026.

As of the Princeton School Board meeting on Sept. 17, and the Milaca School Board meeting on Monday, Sept. 16, both districts are currently still considering the project and have not voted on it. Both school boards plan to make their final decisions at their meetings at the end of October.

For more information about RRSEC, visit https://www.rrsec.org/home.

To learn more about the proposed building project, visit https://www.isd477.org/district/school-board and view the Sept. 17 meeting agenda.

Reach Chloe Smith at chloe.smith@apgecm.com