Vikings Vision: Identifying opportunities to improve learning spaces at Cook County Schools
Cook County Schools began a comprehensive facilities and grounds study last fall to evaluate the condition of our school buildings and identify possible improvements. This process is important to the district’s goal to provide each and every student with learning environments and opportunities that help them reach their full potential.
What steps has the district taken to evaluate its buildings and grounds?
Our district is partnering with ICS, a leading consultant with extensive experience working with school districts across Minnesota to improve their buildings and classrooms. In 2023, ICS completed several assessments of the district, including:
Comprehensive facility study to evaluate the condition and quality of our existing school buildings: Results of this study will help our district predict future maintenance to ensure our schools can continue serving students for decades to come.
Demographics and enrollment projections study to identify enrollment trends and project future enrollment based on census data: These findings will help our district prepare for changes to enrollment and individual class sizes, including a look at our historical enrollment.
Educational adequacy assessment to evaluate every space in our schools: This step will determine whether our buildings are in compliance with recommended guidelines from the MN Department of Education.
Ten community listening sessions with staff, students, and community members: These gatherings helped identify challenges at our buildings and opportunities to improve learning spaces for our students, staff, and community.
In January 2024, the district retained Duluth-based DSGW to explore ways that the district’s current buildings could be improved based on the results of these studies and community listening sessions.
What have we learned so far?
The district has identified several areas of our school buildings that either do not meet the MN Department of Education’s recommended guidelines or were recognized as opportunities for improvement by internal and external stakeholders.
Some of the identified areas include a lack of common and multi-purpose gathering space, undersized secondary classrooms and a lack of physical education space, and storage space in classrooms. The top takeaways from the educational adequacy assessment and community listening sessions are below.
Top Facility Issues From All Listening Sessions
What’s next?
The school board and other district leaders are considering the results of the analyses to determine whether there are opportunities to make responsible investments in our school buildings. In the meantime, our district will continue to seek input from staff and community members.
If the board decides to pursue investments to address the needs at our schools, further listening sessions will be scheduled in 2024 to discuss the path forward.
How can I get involved?
Do you have feedback on ways you think our schools can be improved to better serve our students? Visit the Connect page to share your thoughts or ask questions about the review and improve our schools.
Prepared and paid for by Independent School District No. 166 (Cook County School District), 101 W 5th Street, Grand Marais, MN 55604. This publication is not circulated on behalf of any candidate or ballot questions.
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