Stanton Proposes New Elementary Building

The two modular elementary classrooms outside the Stanton Elementary building were intended to be temporary. Purchased in 1984, Board President John Mandl said the buildings certainly weren’t meant to be used for so long that the school district would be forced to install a new roof.
But Mandl — who has served on the board for 23 years — says Stanton has done that — and much more to those “temporary” buildings and its aging elementary facility.
After more than 40 years of struggles, the Stanton Board of Education is hoping to take a bond to voters this fall for a new elementary building.
On Monday night, the Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution to go to special election on Tuesday, Nov. 4, for the $28.2 million bond. The date was reported during the meeting as Nov. 11, but that is in correct. The correct date is Nov. 4.

“We want to discuss, consider, take all necessary actions for approving this resolution,” Superintendent Darren Soucie told the board.
With no one from the public attending or asking questions about the project, the board spent just eight minutes on further discussion before voting to pass the resolution.

David Morfeld made the motion and Brian Wehrer seconded it. The resolution passed 6-0.

Stanton’s levy has continuously dropped over the last five years. The 2025-26 levy was also approved Monday. At 69.4 cents, it is nearly 30 cents lower than it was in 2020 when it was at 97 cents.

It’s been nearly 10 years since the district last discussed a new elementary school. Once the talk became serious again, disasters struck, including the 2019 flood and COVID-19 pandemic. There was also an administrative change when Dr. Michael Sieh retired in 2020 and Soucie was hired.

During that time, Stanton’s board continued to put bandaids on the elementary building. Since just 2020, Stanton has remodeled the entrance hallway, redesigned the front entrance to improve security, replaced the back door, replaced doors on the modular, reshingled the modular roof, rerouted sewer pipe due to deterioration underground, replaced cement for drainage by the modulars, updated air gap plumbing in the kitchen, replaced a sink in the restrooms, replaced drinking fountains, replaced three heat exchangers on the roof, covered gym lights to LED, replaced toilets in the restrooms and updated video cameras.

Despite all those updates, more issues remain. Among the problems are fire code violations, security, site, handicap accessibility and plumbing issues. There’s no exit corridors, which mean they exit directly exterior or through intervening rooms. There’s no fire sprinkler system, which would be difficult to install due to bearing height of the domed concrete construction. The administration access point is considered a security risk because visitors have access to the school upon entry, rather than having to enter through the offices.

The ADA issues range from no existing toilets meeting current code, wheelchair access, signage, clear floor space requirements, plumbing fixture heights, a ramp to only one modular and a dilapidated storm shelter outside the building.

Elementary Principal Sarah Remm said Stanton has 192 students in grades PK-6, which are currently in three different buildings. The proposed building would have 14 classroom and allow all of them — including pre-kindergarden and those in fifth and sixth grades — to be in the same building. The building would also have an early childhood center.

The new school — located where the Best and Denney houses are that the school purchased last year — would be built next to the current school in a roughly 18- to 24-month period, meaning it could be in use during the 2027-28. The current building would be demolished after completion, setting up an improved drop-off and pickup scenario for students in that space.

The elementary building currently utilizes the two modulars for art, band and the fourth-grade classrooms. All classes would be moved to the new facility, as well as having the elementary classes from pre-kindergarten and fifth- and sixth-grade moved from their current locations. Soucie that would free up classrooms at the high school by moving the fifth- and sixth-graders. They would likely sell the current pre-school building.

Stanton’s new elementary would have a safe and secure administration area, where visitors would have to check in before having access to the rest of the building. There would be an 800-person gymnasium to allow for recess and competition events. This would not replace the high school gymnasium. The current facility has a multipurpose room that serves as the cafeteria and gym, which makes inside recess difficult. The new facility would have a different location for the cafeteria, allowing both rooms to be used at the same time. There would also be a library that could be accessed without having to walk through it to get to the classrooms. All restrooms and locker rooms would be ADA compliant as well.

As for the cost of the facility, for non-ag land valuation, it would be $22.33 per month per $100,000 valuation or $55.83 per month per $250,000 valuation. For ag land, that is valued using the LB2 valuation, which is valued at 50 percent of actual valuation, meaning ag land actually valued at $500,000 would be taxed as if it was a $250,000 value. Instead of a month cost of $111.67 for that ag land, it would be half — or $55.83.
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The advisory committee for the building is made up of John Mandl, David Morfeld, Shad Pohlman, Micah Buller, Sarah Remm, Darren Soucie, Austin Brown, Karla Renn, Greg Wegner, Ashley Hekrdle, Tim Reese and Scott Rutten.