Superintendent Desjarlait approaches Council on building and expansion plans

By Michael Barrett

Freelance Writer

            At the September 9, 2003, Regular Tribal Council Meeting, Superintendent of Schools Stuart Desjarlait came before the Council with their future expansion and building plans for the Red Lake School District.

            “Red Lake School District will be moving forward for an expansion on a couple capital bonding issues in February–come this February,” Desjarlait said. “Again, we’re looking for a new middle school–roughly a $25 million dollar middle school–and about $8 million in renovation and remodeling for the existing middle school to turn that into a high school.”

            That was Phase 3 of the District’s long term building project. He added that they had their Master Plan all laid out until 2013.

            “Once we finalize our Master Plan I will get it to the Secretary for the Tribal Council,” Desjarlait stated.

            He said he’d had a meeting with Harlan Beaulieu, Tribal Reality, Shawn McKnight, Tribal Engineering and Roger Head about a month ago on potential building sites for the new middle school.

            “And we had a number of sites we had looked at already,” Desjarlait said. “A couple sites down by Fox Point going towards Ponemah; we also looked at a Heart Lake site, north side of the road back in the woods. There, we found that unacceptable. Then we went to the south side of Heart lake, down about a mile on that road passed Adrian Lussier’s, back in there past the power lines. The School Board kind of liked that site...”

            He explained that their plans have already been approved by the Department of Education for the building, which was roughly about $25 million to be used for a middle school for grades 6-8, plus additional space for an addition of an elementary wing on the current elementary school about four years from now.

            “Red Lake’s enrollment, we’re way up there, and we continue to grow this year again,” he said. “We got about 325 high school kids, 330 middle school kids. Our main concern right now is finding a site to get the building project going later on–a year from now. You look between the middle school and high school right now and you can see we’re right now in the Phase 2 Project there...

            “...So I ask the Council today to work with–have Harlan work with us and whoever else on the Tribal Council wants to work with us on coming back to the Board, and coming back to the Council on a finalized site.”

            There was a discussion on what they looked for in finding a site. Both Desjarlait and Harlan Beaulieu said it was mainly water and sewer. They also talked about locations and the money that was involved in development costs for having to develop an area.

            Discussions also took place on sites thought of for the new Tribal Council building.

            Beaulieu said he had a suggestion for that, near the mouth of the Creek where the old 1889 Treaty was signed.

            The Powwow ground area was also talked about, as an area there with a full view of the lake was also being reserved specifically for that purpose.

            Desjarlait said if the Powwow ground area, Heart lake, Fox Point and etc. didn’t work out with the Council, they did have other alternative sites, one of which was an area on the old Ponemah Road.

            Secretary Roy asked if there was any types of studies done to show variations in where a site is located for a middle school.

            “Studies have shown that the placing of the middle school students–they are very active they’re at that age where a lot os going on with them–by placing them outside of the community at a location that is isolated, has proven that it slows down their activeness...” Desjarlait explained.

            Where the current middle school was located, he said, they had kids going to the Red Lake Trading Post during school time, taking off down the road, and etc. A middle school away from the heart of the community and off the main roadway–like the Heart Lake site–would be isolated with one entrance.

            The Council would work with the District on their building and expansion plans.