ESU13 Has New Address

The hallways have the inviting appearance of newness while work rooms are overwhelmed with supplies to be put in their place, and the scent of industrial adhesives are still lingering in the air. Meanwhile, the former building is becoming increasingly vacant as the Educational Services Unit (ESU) 13 staff make their move to the new location.

Offices are gradually filling with staff, followed by the computers and reference books for them to do their job working with regional schools and students.

The ESU13 program is making the jump from the center of Sidney to the Western Nebraska Community College campus where a new wing has been constructed for the ESU 13 programs.

The new building is a vision that is a long journey moving toward reality, according to administrator Andrew Dick.

“I've been here about 18 months. When I came on, the board and my predecessor made the decision it was time for new office space,” Dick said recently.

The 12-member board and administration explored options from upgrading the existing facility to building new, deciding to partner with WNCC. Ultimately, the decision was based on cost.

“We were just as well to build something new,” Dick said.

In February, ESU13 and WNCC met with the Sidney City Council in February 2020 with a public hearing held in March for the proposed addition to the WNCC campus. The building was announced as a 10,000 square-foot addition to the existing college building. In addition to the classroom and office annex, the campus has a new garage facility to be shared by WNCC and ESU13.

“The work with WNCC has been tremendous,” he said recently. “I think its a win-win for WNCC and us.”

The office in the 11th block of Toledo has been the program's home for many years. ESU13 has four locations: Scottsbluff, Chadron State College, Sidney and the VALTS and LifeLink program at WNCC Harms Center in Scottsbluff. ESUs, Educational Service Units, were designed as support for school districts. The focus is to help smaller schools and school districts provide the services the may not have available on their own. Dick said ESU's slogan is “We serve, we support, we empower.” ESU13 employs about 180 people including psychologists, speech pathologists, and early childhood specialists.

“It's a multitude of services,” Dick said.

ESU 13 covers about 14,000 geographic miles and averages about one student per square mile.

ESU units are funded by Core Service Dollars from the State of Nebraska, Grants, membership fees and costs by student fees. They can also levy up to 1.5 cents on property tax.