281 officials “scramble” to get schools ready

1,500 students will gather at Robbinsdale Middle School this year. Too many kids, not enough classrooms. Then there’s the problem of resizing bathroom equipment, building kitchens and a security entrance, and other items in time for the start of school. The cost of the move is quickly adding up, according to this MN Sun Post article:

Renovations at numerous school buildings were underway last week, as workers scrambled to get things in place for the start of the teachers’ workshop week Monday, Aug. 31.

Much of last week’s activity centered on Robbinsdale Middle School, where moving vans were unloading the contents of classrooms and stacking them in front of signs in a gym listing each teacher’s name and room number.

The major retrofitting at the school, aimed at accommodating approximately 1,500 middle school students this year, includes the expansion and addition of offices, and installation of a security entrance at the front door.

RMS teachers were encouraged to unpack and put away items in their classrooms last week, Principal Tom Henderlite said.

The one-time cost of the district-wide transition from 17 schools to 14 – including moving costs — is estimated at $680,000, according to Dennis Beekman, District 281’s executive director of technology.

“To date, approximately $630,000 has been spent, and we believe costs will be very close to the estimate once all work is completed,” he said.

We’ll keep an eye out for the total cost of the moves, and how their promise of saving $2,000,000 a year holds up. PTSO volunteers  have been an enormous help in getting things ready, as RMS cut 2 custodians. There’s also word that teachers will now be adding cleaning to their daily load of duties at RMS – adding another dimension to “scrambling.”