Bismarck parents and community members support renovations and additions to local schools but are split on how to finance them.

School board members Thursday night received direction for five building projects they want to proceed with at a public forum that drew about 140 people despite subzero temperatures. People said the improvements are critical to delivering quality education to students but were unsure how Bismarck residents would react to a bond issue.

The building projects, totaling an estimated $11.3 million, include:

* Replacing the 50-year-old heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system at Will-Moore Elementary School for an estimated cost of $1.2 million.

* Adding 10 classrooms and a commons space to Miller Elementary School for an estimated $2.2 million.

* Adding 10 classrooms and remodeling existing commons areas at Murhpy Elementary School for $2.4 million.

* Remodeling Myhre Elementary for an estimated $2.5 million.

* Renovate Simle Middle School's north wing at an estimated cost of $3 million.

At the forum, district officials split the crowd into small groups and gave them a list of questions, asking about their educational priorities, school and class size, other school building issues, funding preferences and suggestions for how the board should move forward.

Participants also had an opportunity to ask questions, which ranged from why the board wasn't looking at building a new school in north Bismarck to what long range plans the board had for district buildings.

"It was very helpful," board president Parrell Grossman said. "We had a good cross section of people who came from different schools. It was beneficial to understand what they thought."

People said they wanted to keep elementary classrooms small at 20 students or less and middle and high school classrooms at around 25. There also was support for maintaining medium- to small-sized elementary, middle and high schools. Parents said they didn't want more than 600 students in an elementary school.

"For me, class size is critical," said Ann Larson, Bismarck parent. "This is the future of our children in this community and I'm willing to pay for that."

Board members have two options that would pay for the projects, both of which wouldn't call for a tax increase. The district will pay off a $9.8 million loan with taxpayer money next year. Once the loan is paid, property taxes will go down. Residents could instead vote to maintain their current tax rate and fund the building projects or the district could use its unlimited taxing authority and raise its mill levy.

Participants questioned if the board could get the needed support from residents to pass a bond issue. They also said the community might say the district was going behind their backs to fund the projects if they used their unlimited taxing authority.

"Getting a bond issue passed would be hard, but the perception with the other way will be, 'What are you trying to sneak through?'" said Brenda Sailer, a Bismarck parent. "Even though that's not what you are doing."

The district will sort through the results of individual questionnaires and group answers and bring a summary to the board in February. Superintendent Paul Johnson said he expected board members to vote on the projects by the end of February.