The first meeting regarding a task force bidding to iron out problems associated with an Aug. 14 defeat of a $3.995 million building bond will be Nov. 12.
The bond issue was defeated by a margin of 300-252 by district voters Aug. 14. Questions about why the bond issue failed will have to be answered before the board puts the issue to a vote in 2013.
"That's my job, to tell people what we need and why we need it," Verndale Superintendent Paul Brownlow said.
Additional space requirements and a desire to upgrade building facilities have buoyed action on the building bond. Verndale's student body stood at 486 at the time of Monday's board meeting. When Brownlow arrived in 2007, the district enrollment was 425.
"We have definitely seen some growth," Brownlow said.
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The district's current bond issue will end in 2013.
A task force, consisting of up to 18 people, will meet at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 12 at the school, immediately following a special board meeting to canvass results of the Nov. 6 school board election.
"We'll probably review the feedback," Brownlow said regarding discussions of a possible task force strategy. "We don't want to go as rapidly as we did."
The first vote on the building bond took place in August because it was the date of federal, state and county primaries in Minnesota. The school board approved a recommendation by the project's first task force group June 4 to put the question to a vote.
Up to three task force meetings could be held this fall and winter, Brownlow said. Preston Eurele of R.A. Morton Construction is running the task force meetings. The St. Cloud firm would be the general contractor of the project if approved.
While task force recommendations will be defined in the coming months for a board decision to proceed with a second vote, Brownlow has pointed out the District 818 board does not have the final word. The Minnesota Department of Education can require up to 60 days to review a project.
If a spring vote on the issue is held, Brownlow said work on an addition would take one school year.
