School briefs

New district office on the horizon At its April 14 meeting, the District 196 school board moved ahead with plans to spend $2.45 million to buy a Rosemount office building that could become the district's new headquarters as soon as this fall.

The building, unoccupied since it was built on Carrousel Way in 2006, would replace the district's office on Diamond Path in Rosemount, which was intended as a warehouse when it went up in 1972.

Finishing the interior of the new building would cost an additional $1.8 million.

If all goes well, construction would take place this summer, with staff members moving in late fall. The plan still needs final approval from the school board and the Minnesota Department of Education.

The current main office would continue to house the mailroom, graphics and other employees. The move would free up space to house staff members working in portable classrooms and makeshift offices, according to the district.

The district had already been planning to renovate its office when a real-estate agent approached the superintendent with an offer to sell the building, which the district said had been listed at $3.7 million.

Rosemount principal to retire at end of year Rosemount High School principal Greg Clausen will retire at the end of the school year. Clausen, 60, came to the high school as an assistant principal in 1987 and was named principal in 1995.

Autism awareness book fair is Saturday A book fair designed to help increase autism awareness is going to be held Saturday at the Barnes and Noble near Burnsville Center, 828 W. County Road 42, Burnsville.

A percentage of sales during the event, sponsored by the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage district's Special Education Advisory Committee, will go toward the purchase of books about autism for all the elementary schools in the district.

From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., activities will include Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz and other guests reading aloud.

For more information, go to www.isd191.org and click on Individualized Student Services, or call Sue McGill at 952-707-2733.

Restaurant will help send kids to capital The Science Olympiad team at Kenwood Trail Middle School will benefit from a fundraiser this weekend at the Timber Lodge Steakhouse in Burnsville, which will donate 15 percent of sales proceeds to the team between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Sunday. The money will help the team pay for travel to the national competition in Washington, D.C. this spring.

The renovation, during which the school was basically torn down and rebuilt, was funded through a $33 million bond referendum approved by voters in May 2005; those funds also paid for an expansion of Hilltop Elementary School and improvements at Pine Bend and Salem Hills elementary schools.