(SB) – Before Superintendent Chad Janzen arrived in Sergeant Bluff to become the school’s new administrative leader, he had the opportunity to study the SB-L School District’s success recognized nationally as a National Blue Ribbon School in 2021. He wanted to know what the Sergeant Bluff school did to earn the prestigious, national award.
It’s no surprise Janzen sought to learn as much as he could about SB-L, as well as other successful school districts.
As the then superintendent of the Rock Valley CSD, Janzen made school improvement a priority. He sought to discover, inquire, learn, and formulate the best routes for a school’s educational expansion and direction. Students First is a priority he set for himself entering into formal education. Thus, it was no accident that when he became SB-L’s superintendent, he – along with the SB-L school board and school engagement committee -- addressed the school’s needs based on what he, the board, and committee learned, visiting with the Sergeant Bluff community-at-large.
Through extensive listening sessions both from many individuals and groups within Sergeant Bluff, Janzen, the board and committee collated their findings and found that the local citizenry expressed concerns, thoughts, and wishes on what they believed is needed for the school district to meet the challenges foreseen in the future based on its population, student growth, educational parameters, demographic location, infrastructure, and factors past and present.
“What we’ve done for the better part of two years, I think we have done a good job of addressing the concerns we’ve heard from people,” Janzen explained.
After two years of listening, the district has put for a plan that includes three components:
1. A need for a new primary school (kindergarten to grade 2). The latter would be added
to the existing Elementary School.
2. High School update from its 1977 infrastructure. This would include the replacement of its energy management system and digital controls; upgrade lighting to LED; upgrade main electrical service and switchgear and electrical distribution system; replacement of the ceiling grid, boiler and classroom ventilation system, and upgrade fire alarm system.
3. Build a new Career and Technical Education (CTE) building. Potential programming includes Industrial Tech, Health Sciences, and Family & Consumer Science (DCS). (CTE would be in partnership with Western Iowa Tech CC, other areas school districts, and provide partnerships with local businesses and industries.)
The three above projects fall within long-term facility planning based on input from the people of Sergeant Bluff. To accomplish the projects, the citizenry expressed that moving forward would include a plan for fiscal responsibility and the district responded with a potential tax rate increase of $2.85. The latter amount, Superintendent Janzen said, balances the need for improvements with consideration of the financial impact on the community, especially following previous failed proposals of a tax rate increase of $4.05.
To provide the $2.85 tax rate, Janzen said the district developed a long-term, three-phase plan, with each phase being voted upon approximately every five years. (The net tax impact is neutral upon passage of the first bond, while Phase II and III relate to the development of a new high school on the East Campus.) Janzen emphasized that the additional phases “do not add new tax dollars to taxpayers”. He said that the additional phases would extend the initial $2.85 tax rate out further, or longer.
The SB-L CSD attempts to pass a school bond issue over the past 15 years have met with failure. Those failed bond issues have sorely impacted the overall condition of the district’s buildings and infrastructure. Fifteen years without investment, thusly, has resulted in continued aging and increased disrepair of SB-L’s facilities.
To meet its project goals, the district has reached out to the City of Sergeant Bluff, Western Iowa Tech CC, the Siouxland YMCA, and nearby rural schools, all of whom have expressed a desire to partner in the SB-L CSD project plans.
For more information about the 2024 SBL-CSD Referendum CLICK HERE
