Bonds sold for Middle School Roof
The Northfield School District recently sold bonds to finance a new roof for the Northfield Middle School. The school was built in 2004 and the roof had been damaged in a 2006 hail storm. The new roof will cost $3.1 million, although that money will come from the District’s Long-Term Facilities Maintenance Fund, already existing revenue that will not further impact taxpayers.
The District took advantage of still-low interest rates and the schools good credit rating to get an interest rate of 1.95%. Standard and Poors has assigned a credit rating of AA+, which District Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann says puts them among the elite districts in the state:
“There are only three school districts in the state that have a better bond rating, and there are only two other districts in the state, both much larger than Northfield, who have a similar rating. So, we are in the top six of over 330 districts in the state with our bond rating.”
The process that Standard and Poors use goes in-depth into the schools finances, which Hillmann believes reflects well on the District’s financial management:
“This is an external validation of the districts financial management. They come and ask a lot of questions about the district’s finances, the communities economic stature, and so it’s a really positive analysis of how Northfield Public Schools have managed their finances.”
The work on the new roof will be completed over the summer.
Northfield Promise Book Drive
Northfield Promise is organizing a community-wide book drive throughout the month of February for “I Love to Read Month.” Members of the Northfield Community can donate new and gently used books for readers from ages of birth to young adults, by dropping them at one of the Northfield Rotary Club collection bins.
Content Bookstore has curated a list of recommended books for different age groups and is donating20% of sales back to Northfield Promise in the form of books. The list is available online at contentbookstore.com/northfield-promise-book-drive.
“Content is delighted to partner with Northfield Promise for I Love to Read Month,” said owner Jessica Peterson White. “As booksellers, it’s our mission in life to help people love reading, and it gives us so much joy to help connect kids throughout the community with fresh, new books they’ll be excited to read.”
Especially encouraged are board books, picture books, Spanish and bilingual books, and other books that portray all children, honoring diverse backgrounds, languages, abilities and perspectives, and that include stories by and about people of color.
The goal of the book drive is to help ensure that every child has easy access to wonderful books that will help them dream big. Collection bins are located at Bridgewater, Greenvale Park, and Spring Creek elementary schools; the Northfield Community Education Center; the Northfield Middle School; the Northfield Area Family YMCA; and the Community Action Center of Northfield. The books will be
distributed to children and families leading into spring and summer breaks from school.
For more information, email Laura Turek at laura@healthycommunityinitiative.org.
Daryl Budenski update
The Northfield Police department is reminding the public to be on the lookout for any information that may lead to locating Daryl Budenski, the 71-year-old Northfield man who went missing on October 3. Budenski, known as Dice to friends, was believed to be on foot when he left his apartment. Police have investigated numerous tips, from the local area, as well as around and out of state, but none have resulted locating him so far.
Anyone with any information regarding his whereabouts is advised to call the NPD at 507-645-4477 or dial 911.
