ISD 622 reports bond projects, deferred maintenance and a $1.1M grant for electric buses; solar rollout continues

Operations staff updated the school board on the district’s construction and sustainability work and described a state grant to buy electric buses and pay much of the necessary charging infrastructure.

Operations presenter Sarah (operations staff) said the Harmony Learning Center construction is about 65% complete and the district occupied a two-story wing that houses adult basic education; phase 2 (alternative program space) is scheduled for occupancy next summer. She said Tartan High School completed the final phase of a multi-year construction program and came in on budget.

Sarah summarized deferred maintenance projects completed over the summer, including exterior replacements at Beaver Lake, playground work at Cowan Elementary, parking-lot and lighting upgrades at Gladstone, boiler and cooling-unit replacements at district facilities and turf and stadium updates at North and Tartan high schools.

On sustainability, she said the district is expanding single-sort recycling, piloting organics collection, opening kitchen dishwashing rooms to reduce disposables and maintaining an asset-disposition plan emphasizing reuse. The district is updating its B3 benchmarking database to track energy and water use across buildings.

Sarah announced the district received a $1,100,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Commerce for electric school buses. “So three of them will be rolling into the district, at the 2026,” she said, and the grant pays for roughly 85% of the charging infrastructure, including stations, conduit and panels. The district said it is issuing an RFP for buses and will assign the electric vehicles to routes the state maps as part of the grant criteria.

She also described a multiyear solar plan funded in part through a Minnesota Commerce solar grant: three schools received rooftop arrays in phase 1, and the district plans three phases totaling 12 buildings by 2027. Sarah said the district anticipates about $85,000 in energy savings in the first year from the installed arrays at the schools in phase 1.

Board members asked how cold-weather operation and battery range are being addressed; Sarah said the district consulted neighboring districts with experience in colder climates and that average district routes — about 40 to 50 miles per day — fit within expected daily range, and buses would return to garages for charging between routes.

Board members praised the recent construction open house and said the displays helped voters see what the 2019 bond funded. The district said slideshows and materials will be posted on its website.