Sunrise was built for about one thousand students when it opened in 2019. At last report there were 1130 students at the school, forcing some small class groups into hallways. School officials say home building growth and new families moving into that part of Blaine has mushroomed faster than expected.
“Growth that the city officials believed at the time, accelerated much fast than anyone could have anticipated,” said Anoka-Hennepin Schools’ Chief Operations Officer, Greg Cole. “I think another piece that was somewhat unpredictable was what happened during COVID. I think conventional wisdom thought maybe housing starts would slow down during that period of time, and they actually did just the opposite.”
Plans have been made to move about 120 prospective kindergarteners who would have been at Sunrise this fall to Johnsville Elementary for one year. That’s a short term fix. Now plans are being made for a $7 million addition that would add 8 classrooms to Sunrise by the fall of 2023. There would be room for 200 more students.
“The kindergarten solution, having 120 kindergarteners move to Johnsville Elementary School was really intended to address next years’ problem,” said Cole. “We have known for awhile now that we have a longer term problem that we were going to have to jump on very quickly and find a solution for.”
Money for the expansion comes from unspent dollars approved by voters in the 2017 bond election. It’s the same election that approved funding to build the school. One school board member questioned whether it was proper use of the money and suggested another vote.
“I think what we should do is go out to the community and ask for their consent before we do it,” said Board Member Matt Audette.
Other board members say it is proper and they have an obligation to do it.
“Our community members voted on building Sunrise and expected it to last longer and accommodate the growth. That’s where we missed,” said Board Chair Marci Anderson. “So this, to me, is an opportunity to correct that mistake.”
Anderson added, the district did a good job predicting growth in other areas. She said,”We have an obligation to correct this.”
Even when the school was built it came with future expansion plans.
“There was a plan created just in case an addition was necessary to draw an addition on the north side of the building,” said Cole.
Those plans called for four additional classrooms. But architects have confirmed there is room for eight. If all goes well, construction could begin this fall, and finish by fall of 2023.
Another part of the long term solution to meet increased growth, is re-evaluating all the district’s elementary school boundaries one year earlier than planned. That evaluation will begin this summer.
