The Copper Country Intermediate School District serves more than 6500 students across three counties. Since the start, it has worked to provide essential services for the Baraga, Houghton, and Keweenaw’s disabled children, offered early childcare programming, and provided technical skills training to the region’s high school students. Serving students across three counties and providing essential services to the region’s 14 districts comes with challenges.
Geographically, it ranges almost 2,500 square miles, from the tip of Copper Harbor down to Arvon in Berga County and then over to Elm and Twin Lakes. So geographically, it’s a very large area that we serve. Our hope is to centralize services both in Houghton County and Berga County. And bring our staff to one location. – James Rautola, Superintendent, Copper Country Intermediate School District
On August 5th, the CCISD will ask voters in Baraga, Houghton, and Keweenaw counties to consider a 1.15 construction bond millage. The CCISD anticipates the millage rate will average 1 mil over the length of the 25-year bond. The millage will support a 45-million-dollar construction bond to solve space challenges, modernize classrooms, and centralize students and staff.
We’re working in a space that wasn’t designed for 2025. Some of the same tools are still used, but the toolbox has shifted. We’re facing space constraints for our classrooms. They weren’t set up in 1958 for what we need today. So, for example, we don’t have specific sensory rooms or space for our staff to use, that would be adequate. So, part of what we are looking to do is reuse, and repurpose, but add additional space, so we can give our staff and our students the proper tools in the toolbox to do their jobs successfully. – James Rautola, Superintendent, Copper Country Intermediate School District
Across the Hecla Street facility, CCISD’s special education has been spread out. The ISD even has a portion of its transitional program set up in the basement. Which presents a challenge for students with mobility issues or are wheelchair bound.
The plan would seek to move all the transitional program space to the main floor, as well as modernize classrooms for sensory needs, and educational programming.
That serves our kids from 18 to 26. It’s sort of split right now. So, the main classroom is on the upper floor of the Hecla Street building. But their teaching kitchen, candle-making space and whatnot are located in the basement of our facility. That basement was never intended to be used for classroom space. It’s what we must work with, and we make the best of what we do. – James Rautola, Superintendent, Copper Country Intermediate School District
Another aspect of the project will establish a permanent presence in Baraga County, where students, parents, staff, and programming can meet under one roof.
And in Baraga County, we would do something very similar. We would have a permanent space in Baraga County with infrastructure that we could physically put money into to better serve the needs of the kids and the Baraga County community. Except for bringing everything down to Hecla Street, where we have 14 and a half acres on the Houghton County end, we would move early childhood education up to where our current CT center is, help alleviate some of the parking concerns up there, and it would be a perfect drop-off, pick-up for parents. – James Rautola, Superintendent, Copper Country Intermediate School District
Throughout the western Upper Peninsula’s school districts, more students have taken interest in trade or technical careers. The CCISD’s Career and Technical Education program continues to expand what students work on and has connected with local partners to allow students access to educational, and interactive spaces to learn about careers firsthand.
CCISD Rautola says about a quarter of students enrolled in the CTE programs now come from L’Anse and Baraga schools. The permanent presence in Baraga County will allow L’Anse and Baraga students space to work on larger projects and provide modern classroom space.
It just makes sense that we have a physical presence down there to be able to serve. We also have programs at L’Anse schools and Berga schools for special education students. But right now, we don’t have a physical location, office space, or space for parents to come meet our staff. We don’t have a physical location down there for our staff to work out of. Once we can secure that and invest in that, it makes their job so much more efficient. It is a lot more convenient for the community as a whole to be able to access the services and the value that Copper Country ISD offers. – James Rautola, Superintendent, Copper Country Intermediate School District
In Houghton County, the CTE programs would move to the Hecla Street campus as a part of the project’s plans to add new space. At the same time, moving early childcare programming to the CCISD building in downtown Hancock.
But we just thought about the center of town, where our current CTE building is, it makes sense. It’s convenient for parents to be able to pick up and drop off. And then it made sense for the Hecla Street end, to centralize our K-12, and 0-26 students on the 14.5 acres we have. From an efficiency standpoint for our staff and services. On the Houghton County end, say CTE students could reach a central location in 10 to 15 minutes for the programs that we offer. And in Baraga County, the same thing; they could reach a centralized facility in 15 minutes, rather than driving 45 minutes up to the Hancock campus. – James Rautola, Superintendent, Copper Country Intermediate School District
Learn more about the Copper Country ISD’s August 5th bond millage request and project here.
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