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Joint Meeting Brief
Last night, our School Board met with the Shakopee City Council during their workshop session. It’s the first time this sort of meeting between our school district’s elected officials and the city’s has happened in several years.
“I think this is the first time we’ve done this in quite some time and I’m excited to talk about all the things we can do together,” said Mayor Brad Tabke.
The goal of this meeting was to begin the discussion on ways the city and the district could share their resources to improve facilities throughout the city and school district. “As a school district, our number one goal is to provide a quality education to all students and a space for that to happen,” said Superintendent Dr. Rod Thompson after the meeting. “Tonight was all about reaching out to the city council to find ways we could, together, be good stewards of the taxpayer dollars to invest in facilities both at the district level and the city level.”
The discussion began with the Community Center. “The Community Center has been a sticking point for the city and as the city has grown, the issue has become much more immediate and pressing,” said Tabke. “It was built when there were 10,000 to 15,000 people in this town and it no longer meets the needs of this community.” A second sheet of ice, and how to fund that second sheet was also brought up. The Shakopee School Board has promised to be a great partner, if and when a second sheet is constructed, by buying a substantial amount of ice time. They are also willing to help with a second sheet in other creative ways like team rooms or locker rooms. Superintendent Thompson stated, "The school district is committed to making sure our student athletes who play hockey aren’t being forced to skate at nine or ten at night on school nights."
Parks and Recreation Director Jamie Polley talked about the needs in her program and about the growing need for facilities for youth sports. “We have extremely large youth associations that have hundreds of kids. I think we have about 1,000 soccer players. I know that when we are talking indoor and outdoor facilities that people are crunched for time. The city can’t do it alone and the school district can’t do it alone. When a new school is built, there’s a new indoor facility, a gym. When a new park is built, there’s usually a new outdoor facility attached to it. It’s a community issue because our associations are leaving the city to use other facilities.”
Some other topics that were brought to the table were the future use of the district’s Central Family Center and the need for more space for early childhood programming, Shakopee as a post-secondary educational hub, needs for turf, and the need for a senior center.
School board members Shawn Hallett and Mary Romansky along with city council members Matt Lehman and Kathi Mocol and city administrator Mark McNeill and Superintendent Dr. Rod Thompson have agreed to form a joint task force that will continue the discussion on the ways we can work together.
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