Auditorium lighting, tennis courts part of project funding plan

As the Creston Community School District is finding ways to save money as declining enrollment affects the general fund, administrators are also being forced to spend money in order to continue receiving funding.

Last Monday, CCSD Superintendent Deron Stender shared a number of planned future projects that would utilize SAVE and PPEL funds.

Secure an Advanced Vision for Education money comes from a 1-cent statewide sales tax. SAVE funds can only be used for school infrastructure, construction and debt reduction.

Physical Plant and Equipment Levy money comes from a portion of a school district’s property tax levy. Iowa school boards are allowed to have a levy up to $0.33 per $1,000 for this. PPEL funds may only be used for school infrastructure, technology and facility repairs.

Neither of these funds can be used for personnel or other non-infrastructure items.

“The reason why I think it’s important that we utilize some of these resources, and I’m probably taking a bigger risk than I normally would, being as conservative as I typically am, is I also know the legislature is looking at your SAVE dollars,” Stender said. “They’re looking at the SAVE balances for school districts and saying, well, schools are sitting on money and that’s easy to sit there and do that, but they don’t see our future expenditures.”

Stender said the legislators are looking at removing a portion of the money used for SAVE funds and moving them to property tax relief.

“I’ve told the legislators, if it’s so attractive, why don’t you guys just raise the state sales tax by half a cent or a quarter of a percent to generate the revenue instead of taking it from schools,” Stender said. “I said, we’re borrowing against that. Most districts are.”

Upcoming projects

The district has a handful of projects planned to use SAVE/PPEL funds for, including three in the next year. More than $500,000 in contingency funds left from the Creston Early Childhood Center project will also be used as funding.

Originally approved in July, the high school auditorium will be getting new lighting in late May. The lighting equipment currently in the theater was brought over from the old high school and is more than 30 years old.

The project is expected to cost about $1.1 million and is already budgeted out of the SAVE/PPEL fund for FY 26 and FY 27.

Six new tennis courts are being designed for the school by DLR Group of Des Moines. These courts would be placed in the empty grassy area between the softball and baseball diamonds.

While the project is estimated to cost about $1.1 million, a portion of that will be taken care of by a $150,000 United States Tennis Association grant. The district is also looking for other grants to help with funding.

From the time the grant is submitted, the district will have 12 months to complete the project. Administration is actively working on the grant submission now.

Future campus improvement projects at Southwestern Community College will likely result in the tennis courts there being torn down. This is where CHS students practice and play.

The final approaching project is the demolition of the old ECC on Elm Street. The district is unsure on what exactly will happen yet, as conversations with the AEA on their leased Swan Street office continue.

“If you demo this building, it makes the land more attractable for a purchaser and a buyer. We have a lease agreement with the AEA that goes until 2043,” Stender said. “The way the lease, the agreement is written, if we pull out before 2030, we owe them $600,000, and it says we’re required to give them a year and a half notice. Well, here we are.”

Stender said he is in talks with AEA administration to see if the local AEA office could move to new space within the district. Not only will the old ECC land be less attractive to a buyer with the AEA office left there, Stender said it will also be more expensive to demolish the rest of the building while renovating the office to stand on its own.

Any bids for the demolition of the building are being requested to have two prices, one for the entire building and one if the AEA office were to remain. The overall demolition is expected to cost about $750,000.

Looking further ahead, the district is also working on a plan for a safe entry and office remodel at the high school, similar to how the elementary and middle school building is now set up. The district hopes that this remodel would be complete by August 2027.

In other school board news...

The board approved a professional leave and travel request from Stender to participate in the America-Israel Friendship League Superintendents Delegation in Israel the third week of April. There is no direct cost to the district, with all expenses being covered by Stender and the AIFL.

The 2026-27 school calendar has been approved, featuring the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 24, spring break March 15-19, 2027, and Friday, May 28, 2027 as the last day of school. Graduation is scheduled for Sunday, May 16, 2027.

The board approved the following list of February 2026 contracts and resignations:

Contracts: Kaitlyn Mitchell, assistant high school softball coach; Gracie Hagle, head high school softball coach.

Resignations: Mason Hague, paraprofessional; Justice Belt, paraprofessional; Karla Larson, paraprofessional.

Terminations: Samantha Fry, bus driver; Jennifer Hallett, paraprofessional.