Health & Fitness
Vote Yes: There's a Plan With Clear Alternatives
Voting yes leads to interesting options, with each property in play. Of course there's a plan, and the community will decide which option is best.
Here's the answer to what is probably the most frequently asked question: Will St. Croix Meadows become a high school?
The answer to that question is up to the Hudson School District community. There are many in our community who want to know exactly what type of school will be built on the St. Croix Meadows site if the April 3 referendum passes.
The district explains the options this way:
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New School on St. Croix Meadows
What Happens to Current District Properties With New School Construction?
Find out what's happening in Hudsonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Current High School
Current Middle School
Administrative Office Building
County Road UU Property
Four-Year High School
Two middle schools for grades 6-8; Divide current middle school population between these two school buildings
Sold; Offices move back to current high school
87 or more acres sold
Three-Year High School (Facilities Task Force recommendation)
Grades 8-9 school
Grades 6-7 school
Sold; Offices move back to current high school
87 or more acres sold
Start as 8-9 School (Expandable to future high school)
Grades 10-12, until new school is expanded
Grades 6-7 school
Remain as admin offices; Sold when new school expands to high school
87 or more acres sold
This two-step process (one for the property and one for the actual school) does seem cumbersome, but after the first one passes, there will be six months of community dialog about what the community sees as the best next step.
The long-standing recommendation of the 2004 Facilities Task Force is the three-year high school, which to me is a sensible way to go. It solves a space problem and the dog track property has ample room for expansion later if necessary
Also, it fits in what I think is Hudson's long-standing way of doing things as far as school buildings go. Build what we need to build when we need to build it, but no more.
The good news about the dog track property is that the space allows for a long future of growth. Maybe as we think about the new St. Croix River Crossing's potential effect on the district's north-end population, voing yes becomes not just a good idea now, but a brilliant one for the future.
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If you want to learn more background on the referendum, go to VoteYesHudson.com. You will see opportunities to volunteer to help the campaign there, too.
