Plan Would Expand Rochester’s Hoover School For Pre-K Classrooms

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The Rochester School District has come up with another option for housing pre-kindergarten programs.

The School Board recently voted to back out of an agreement to purchase the former Minnesota School of Business building in northwest Rochester after estimates put the cost of upgrading and retrofitting the facility to house early education programs would exceed the budget of a little over $8 million.

A new plan, that will be presented to the School Board this evening, calls for a major expansion to Hoover Elementary School along Elton Hills Drive Northwest. School District officials say preliminary cost estimates for a 35,000 square foot building adjacent to the existing school are around $8 million. It would basically double the size of the current building. Hoover school is scheduled for a rebuilding of its heating and ventilation system, which could result in some savings if the two projects are tied together.

If the plan moves forward, construction would likely begin this fall and the new facility would be ready for the start of the 2018-2019 school year.

About half of the district’s pre-K classrooms at currently located at the former Burr Oaks Elementary School, which has been renamed the Mighty Oaks Early Learning School. The other classrooms are at elementary school sites scattered throughout the school district.

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