Schools in Minnesota have face problems. Norm Chaffee, of financial management, transportation, and accountability for the Department of Children, Families and Learning, said 50 to 75 schools in Minnesota currently have air quality problems and nearly 100 percent have structural problems. Schools built 20 to 25 years ago, during the Energy Crisis, were built with few windows and thick insulation with idea of saving energy, he said. Today, in some of these schools, if a person pokes a hole in the wall water will run out. Leaks have developmed.
Mold fouls the air.
School districts design school building so quickly, he said. Maybe instead of turning around a design in six months districts should be more methodical and take 18 months for planning and design, he explained. School districts are liable for eniveronmental problems stemming from poor facilites, he said. Under the proposed legislation, the Elk River School District would receive grant money be used in planning the new high school in Rogers. The object of the legislation is to achieve a design plan for simpler schools with lower life cycle costs that other school districts could model future schools after.