Growing Enrollment Fact Sheet

Plans for Our Growing Enrollment

More Students = More Needs The Wayzata School Board and administration are in the midst of planning for the district’s growing resident student population. New housing developments, increasingly larger classes moving from the middle schools to Wayzata High School and the recent addition of state-funded, all-day Kindergarten beginning in the fall of 2014 are impacting the district’s facility needs for the future.

Wayzata Public Schools Resident Student Population is Growing…

More Capacity is Needed The demand to attend Wayzata Public Schools has never been greater. The district’s K-12 resident student enrollment is anticipated to increase twice as fast in the next 10 years as it has in the past decade. This growth and need for more capacity is due to:

• More births and students moving into the district

• More housing—1,200 new homes

have been built in the district over the past four years and at least another 1,600 new homes are expected to be built in the next four years within the district boundaries, primarily in the cities of Plymouth, Corcoran, Maple Grove and Medina

Demand for Our Schools Pulte Homes advertises Wayzata Schools at their Willows development located in Plymouth. New housing developments are booming within the boundaries of the Wayzata School District with at least another 1,600 homes projected to be built in the next four years. The Wayzata School Board and administration are in the midst of planning for the district’s growing resident student population.

• More students already in our

schools—most district schools are already at capacity, including the high school, and incoming classes from the district’s three middle schools are 50-100 students larger than past classes

• Updated enrollment projections

indicate that Wayzata High School is projected to grow by as many as 900 students in the next 10 years

• The State’s recent decision to fund

all-day Kindergarten will create the need for 14-16 additional elementary classrooms

• Wayzata Public Schools has been

closed to open enrollment for the past two years to focus on meeting the needs of a growing resident student population

New Pressures Impact Comprehensive District Facility Plan The School Board began a comprehensive facilities planning process in 2010 with a 3-phase approach. Higher than expected enrollment projections and the state’s recent decision to fund all-day Kindergarten starting in 2014 add new pressures to the planning process already underway.

Phase 1: Deferred Maintenance and Infrastructure Needs Using Aternative Facilities funding authorized by the State, the district

has established a 10-year plan for addressing deferred maintenance and infrastructure needs to maintain the quality of district buildings.

Phase 2: Elementary Capacity An important part of addressing future elementary capacity needs is underway with additions being built at Greenwood, Oakwood and Sunset Hill Elementary Schools. The additional space will be done in time for the 2013-14 school year. The new additions, coupled with the recent school attendance boundary changes, were originally thought to be sufficient for addressing elementary space needs for the next 3-5 years. However, with the State recently funding all-day Kindergarten starting in the fall of 2014, an additional 14-16 classrooms will be needed. While the State is providing funding for all-day Kindergarten programming, the funding amount does not include money to address increased facility needs.

Phase 3: Middle and High School Capacity The Board is also in the process of determining what action is needed to address the growing secondary student population. At this time, it is expected that middle school enrollment increases can be accommodated by reconfiguring existing space without adding on to any of our middle schools. Wayzata High School is already at capacity and

enrollment is expected to grow by as many as 900 students in the next 10 years. A citizens’ facilities task force met last spring to analyze enrollment trends and recommended the school district consider an addition to the high school due to increasingly larger incoming classes from the district’s three middle schools and more students moving into the district.

Referendum Likely in 2014 to Meet Growth Needs Based on months of work by the citizens’ facilities task force and research about the district’s growing student population, the Wayzata School Board and administration are reviewing plans to expand capacity at the high school and also to consider building a new elementary school.

To allow time for continued planning and communication with the community while still addressing the capacity issues in a timely way for students and families, the Board anticipates a bond referendum will come before voters in 2014 to fund these building needs.

Excellence. For each and every student.

Visit the district’s web site at www.wayzata.k12.mn.us for up-to-date information as the facilities planning process unfolds.

7/2013