MONROE — The Monroe Board of Education continued its discussions of a possible $85.9 million school improvement referendum Monday.

At past meetings the board has discussed the facilities, costs and changes to buildings. This past week the board discussed the educational implications of the concept.

The referendum discussion is occurring because of numerous significant repairs and improvements that are needed at the district’s buildings. Under the concept currently being discussed, the district would reduce from five buildings to four.

The high school would be expanded to become a high school/middle school for grades 7-12. The building would be designed in a way in which the main learning centers for grades 7-8 would be separate from grades 9-12. The current middle school would be turned into an intermediate school for grades 4-6. Both Parkside Elementary School and Northside Elementary School would be turned into primary schools for Pre-K-3 education.

Abraham Lincoln Elementary School, which needs a complete overhaul, would be razed. Students that would attend that school under the current district operation would be sent to either Parkside, Northside or the intermediate school.

District administrator Rick Waski said the discussion of educational implications is a preparation to answer questions from the community. Currently it is just a concept, Waski said, and there are a number of details, both big and small, that need to be worked out by the school board.

The entire plan could be headed toward a referendum in the fall of 2020.

Waski said one of the questions the district will have to answer regarding the concept is going with a Pre-K-3 primary school approach. He said that part of the concept was “set in stone” and was based on a decision made by the citizen’s committee that studied 18 options for school district improvements in the 16 months before presenting the board with what it has adopted as the current concept.

Many things were studied in adopting the primary school approach including trends in education, which student age groups work well together and transportation needs.

Waski said choosing to go with three phases of education was critical.

“What we heard from parents was, ‘I don’t want to have my kids at four buildings,’” Waski said, so that drove the primary school theory.

Amy Timmerman, principal at Northside Elementary School, discussed putting grades 4-6 together in an intermediate school setting. Because the current middle school is a three-floor building, there could be a grade level for each floor.

“Our biggest concern (for the intermediate school) is the playground,” Timmerman said. “The kids need space for their kickball, football and playground.”

Timmerman said there are some points of uncertainty in bringing together the staff because some of the teachers under the current middle school system haven’t worked with elementary school staff.

Director of pupil services, Joe Monroe, said putting grades 4-6 together appeared to be the best follow up to the primary school concept.

“For socialization sake, fourth and fifth graders work well with sixth graders,” Monroe said. “We can make a case that the fourth and fifth graders should be with the sixth grade.”

Timmerman said the intermediate school would be run like a “traditional grade elementary school.”

The intermediate school is projected to have 450 students and the current middle school facility has more than enough room to handle that population, Timmerman said. 

In combining the high school/middle school, there are questions about when the seventh and eighth grade students cross paths with the ninth-through 12th grade students. There are many details that need to be worked out, such as when the students use common areas for science or for lunch.

The high school/middle school project calls for a complete upgrade of the kitchen facility, which has not been significantly remodeled since it was originally constructed. The kitchen is being built to a standard where it can handle the flow of the high school/middle school students in three or four different sections of lunches, depending on the final concept.

One issue that came up briefly was possibly closing the high school campus during the school day. It’s an issue that the district will get more public feedback about through a planned public survey. Waski said there is a lot of time to work out the theories between having an open or closed campus.

School board member Tim Wolff said that when it comes to questions from the public about the referendum and what will change in the lives of students — issues at the high school may be among “the big questions.”

“I think there will be more public concern about the high school flow of students than issues at schools for younger students,” Wolff said.

One significant benefit that will come from the high school/middle school concept is allowing students in grades 7-8 to participate in high school level classes without a major transportation issue. Currently students at the middle school who take high-school level classes are transported by van from one building to another and the process takes up almost two full class periods.

School board president Dan Bartholf said that positive change should be welcome.

“I would stress that there are those benefits to this program,” Bartholf said. “We will be able to give greater opportunities to students.” 

Waski said the concept for new construction and the educational impacts the changes will bring will be discussed several times as the district moves toward a referendum. Some meetings will continue to focus on the facilities and costs. 

“This is a work in progress,” Waski said. “It’s intended to be a dialogue over the course of many months.”