Sharp investing and good timing have both conspired to place the wind at the backs of officials overseeing the financial aspects of building a new high school east of town.
Slated for completion in April, there may be extra money in the budget when it is all finished.
But just don’t call it a surplus.
“From a wording perspective it is probably most accurate to talk about the ‘balance of referendum funding’ or ‘balance of referendum funds,’” said Business Manager Ron Olson, noting that the term ‘fund balance’ can carry a slightly different connotation, but very similar.
The money was approved specifically for the high school under an $88 million referendum approved by voters. But since the overall project is on track, officials at the January 26 Board of Education meeting learned they may eventually have access to contingency and other funds that would have otherwise have to go back to the IRS by law if not spent on the project.
Hence, there is an effort afoot to identify suitable projects that may have been reluctantly pushed aside to keep the building budget lean earlier. (On the project’s online dashboard, construction is reported as 56% complete with the entire body of school building work — including renovations to Abraham Lincoln Elementary — listed at about 57% complete).
The $88 million total project cost includes the new high school and land, lift station, utility buildings, plus about $3.8 million to upgrade Lincoln, and the possible demolition and removal of the current high school into a green space or other use.
Though officials did not provide an estimate of the amount at this early stage — anything can go wrong in construction — the project has a $1.5 million budgeted contingency fund; of which nearly $998,000 remains.
“That (owner’s) contingency has been maintained pretty well throughout the project,” said Olson in an email after the January 26 meeting. “Again, they are hoping that next month or the following, it will allow (us) to make some decisions on larger items that were listed as alternates should funding allow when the project started.”
Officials are looking forward to the building’s public debut, but depictions and photos of the project are currently available on the district website. And officials are now working to identify some of the more painful shortcuts they may have taken during the original planning stages, such as a certain type of wood or a cheaper building material they may have preferred.
Another possibility: Lighted baseball and softball fields could become a reality, a big-ticket item many did not want to cut in the early planning stages. The good news is the footings for lights are there — but the additional price tag for such a project could easily exceed $1 million.
“The hope would be that we have the funds to at least due the varsity baseball and softball fields. After that, the Board would have to prioritize against any other items,” Olson said.
The speed, and working relationship forged with CG Schmidt on other major projects in the Monroe district — including work on both Northside and Parkside, have inspired confidence that the job will be done in April, officials agreed.
“(CG Schmidt) has been on time, on budget and allowed us to save some money on the back end,” said Olson.
Board President Jim Curran agreed, as he and the rest of the board anticipate receiving more concrete numbers of the available funds from the Madison-based contractor within the next month or so.
“You are coming in on time and on budget,” he said. “Well done.”
In an unrelated matter, the district officials were told that they can accept an unlimited number of transfer students through open enrollment for the upcoming year, but that they are maxed out in the number of slots available for those with individual treatment/special education plans.
With demand high among the Wisconsin student population, it would be “next to impossible” to serve all of those who requested such specialized services through open enrollment or otherwise, according to Superintendent Joe Monroe.