Its true, a nature preserve costs money to keep in a school district, according to the Rosholt High School, though I couldn't get an exact figure from. It was explained to me that the school has to pay property taxes and janitorial fees to keep the preserve clean and that comes out of the school funds. I was told there are grants available, but they are hard to come by at the moment. They would not comment on whether or not this will affect the nature preserve in my hometown.
I tried to research the costs of a nature preserve, but was unsuccessful. The only nature preserves that were shown were those not affiliated with a school so they could charge an admission fee. I'm wondering if there is a way for a school to get the help it needs if it can't afford to keep its nature preserve. I would hate to see a school lose its access to nature.
This is very interesting Luke. I never thought that a school would have to pay for these facilities considering they are so educational. I am wondering if Oakwood Elementary would have any more information about this considering they have the nature center there. I know they had money donated to them but I am wondering if they still have to continuously pay each year for upkeep?
ReplyDeleteThis is a good thing to look into Luke! Like Amanda said, I know Oakwood elementary has the nature preserve that we all used when we did our science mini lessons. We also have a nature preserve at the Jr. High I went to school at. I didn't realize that the school had to keep paying for these either! I assumed that once they were donated they were just theirs! Also, because a school is a state building, and property taxes are what help pay for schools and such, I find it interesting that the school also has to pay taxes on the land their perserve is on.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post, I guess I never really thought of the cost of upkeep. One possible solution that I thought of was maybe getting volunteer from the Education field at universities to help out with upkeep. Maybe you could contact Oakwood Elementary School to see how they handle the situation.
ReplyDeleteAfter going to Oakwood Elementary's nature perserve I thought this was interesting. I never really thought about the cost of the upkeep. After experiencing Oakwood's wonderful perserve I personally think that there should be more nature perserves available for schools to use! The science is hands-on and right in front of the students to see. It's both exciting and engaging. I can't picture a better way to learn about nature- than being in a nature perserve!
ReplyDeleteI'm from MN and remember in my science class in 8th grade, we actually went to a preserve during class once a week. It was close enough to our school that we could walk, but it was owned by the university of MN. Having that available for us as a class made learning not only more concrete, but also a lot more fun! I agree that it costs money to keep it open, and that is unfortunate. But, completely worth it! Since we were an elementary school using the preserve, we didnt have to pay- but i can understand some having to charge a fee. Good post :)
ReplyDeleteI had never really thought of the costs of a nature preserve either. I think I remember that the Oakwood preserve was donated to them and that J.J. Keller donated money to build the outdoor classroom. One way to keep some of the cost down would be to have families volunteer for some of the up keep. I know Oakwood has weekends where families come out and volunteer their time.
ReplyDeleteThis was really interesting for me to read about. I had never heard of a school district paying for preservation. I grew up near the city of Chicago so there was not many preserves around. I went to one once on a field trip, but it wasn't a frequent thing. I think that would be a great resource for schools to have and it would be a shame to lose all of them.
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