MONROE — The School District of Monroe’s Board of Education has postponed discussions regarding a facility improvement referendum on the November 2020 ballot.
The district has spent two years working through committees, informational meetings and planning with architects, but mixed results during a recent survey and issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic led the board to change course at its April 13 meeting.
It has been more than six weeks since School Perceptions, a survey and research company out of Slinger, shared results at a regular school board meeting from a community survey. Those results didn’t make clear what voters may favor if a referendum were on the ballot in November.
District Administrator Rick Waski said since then, he and Business Manager Ron Olson have been meeting with CG Schmidt Construction of Madison virtually to discuss options, alterations and possible plans that could work. However, Waski said he feels that the timing isn’t right as the community pushes through an unexpected pandemic that’s having an impact on the local economy.
“The more and more we discuss those options with them, the more it became apparent to me that now is not the time, in my opinion, to be conducting these conversations,” Waski said.
Waski said the focus is being put on getting back to normal operations as the economy changes. He recommended that the board table the discussion — at least until they could start meeting in person again — to truly evaluate the economic impact the coronavirus will have on the community.
Board member Rich Deprez, along with several others, spoke in agreement and the consensus was to hold the topic, although there was no needed official vote.
“It’s not the right time to be asking people to make decisions,” Deprez said, noting that the survey information could even be invalid at this point.
Nikki Matley hoped to make clear that although they were putting the topic on hold, it didn’t refute the school’s needs.
“The needs are still there,” she said. “… this is the wrong time to add something more until we have a handle on long-term effects.”
Board President Dan Bartholf said the topic was in a tight time frame to have the referendum approved to appear on the November ballot and there is a chance that the tax rate could decrease, which could be what community members need, he said.
“There’s no doubt we have to wait on this until we know what life is going to be like when we get out of it,” Bartholf said.
The School District of Monroe was looking at an extensive change to its facilities, but was reaching out to the community for feedback. After two informational sessions, a survey was mailed to residents in February that detailed options for the possible changes to gauge what voters would support for a possible referendum.
Option 1 in the survey and was recommended by both an Elementary Consolidation Committee and a District Facilities Committee. It looked to close Abraham Lincoln Elementary School and create a combined middle/high school serving students in grades 7-12. Its estimated cost was $86 million and would reconfigure Northside Elementary School and Parkside Elementary School to serve students in pre-k through third grade. The middle school would be converted to an intermediate school serving students in fourth through sixth grades. Those who supported Option 1 were split in the survey results, and predictions said it wouldn’t pass in a referendum.
Option 2 detailed changes with an estimated cost at $81 million. In Option 2, Abraham Lincoln Elementary School would be updated and renovated, but similar changes would happen at the high school. That option received very little support in the survey results.
The survey, however, did show backing for closing Abraham Lincoln Elementary School.
Several negative issues at Abraham Lincoln and Monroe High School have been emphasized during discussions, including safety hazards, air quality including mold, non-compliant ADA issues and a sagging foundation, to name a few.