MONROE — At the June 26 Monroe Board of Education meeting, two important dates were selected in regards to the next steps of the $88M high school project.

The board unanimously voted for a public informational meeting to be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, July 10 in the current Monroe High School Performing Arts Center. Later in the meeting, they picked a 6:30 p.m. time slot on Monday, July 17 for the special meeting of the electors vote on the B&S property. That meeting will take place in the MHS main gym, with spillover available in the PAC if needed. 

Superintendent Rodney Figueroa said the district is planning on expanding its registration help to get district voters registered for the meeting in a hope to speed up the process, including opening the doors at 4:30 p.m. At the March meeting, in which the 70-acre Donny property on County DR failed, about 1,500 voters showed up, a near 1,000% increase from the first B&S vote in Dec. 2022.

The B&S property in question, currently owned by Randy Bader and Kay Spidahl, is 70 acres and located on Monroe’s far east side off of 31st Avenue. Preliminary planning would put a primary entrance on a 66-foot-wide easement from County KK about a half of a mile from the Wis. 11 intersection, with a secondary entrance on 31st Avenue between 10th and 11th streets.

Should the land vote at the meeting of the electors pass, the district would then have the authority to purchase the land. During recent negotiations, however, Bader and Spidahl proposed a straight land swap with the school district. The 70-acre site, plus the easement, would essentially be free. Plus, B&S would give $100,000 toward construction of the easement. Then, once the new facility is built and the district moves in, B&S would take over the current high school land “as-is.” 

At that point, B&S would be responsible for the future of approximately 40 acres of land and the potential demolition of the current structure, which has problems with water infiltration, a degrading roof and other issues. The total savings for the district for not having to pay for land and demolition of the leftover buildings would be about $3.15 million in total, and the district would gain 30 acres of land. Should B&S either develop the old site for residential housing or commercial use, that would mean the potential for more tax money coming into the city, alleviating some of the burden from taxpayers, whose rates went up about 25% after the $88 million referendum passed in November.

If the land vote fails, then the new school would be built on the current high school property. Given the current property’s limited space for expansion, the new school would have to be built over top of the current baseball and football fields. Once the new school is built, the old school, including the PAC and gymnasiums, would be torn down, and then the athletic fields would be built.

The construction timeline for the B&S property would have the new high school and all of its athletic facilities ready to use for the 2025-26 school year. Under the current location, which would cost about $226,000 more in total to construct, the delay in building the athletic fields means MHS athletics could see a 2- to 3-year disruption. 

During that time, MHS would not be able to host any on-site outdoor physical education or athletic practices and competitions. Football, baseball, and track-and-field would have to move all practices and competitions entirely to a new location in a separate town, as there are no facilities elsewhere in the city of appropriate dimensions or size for high school use. 

That would mean added transportation costs for daily busing to and from practice and games for all three sports, plus any rental feels the host facility or town would charge — and that’s not to mention the complications with scheduling around another high school’s schedule for facility availability. It would also mean the loss of revenue from ticket sales and concessions, which typically go directly to MHS clubs and specific athletic programs.

Cross country, which currently utilizes the track for practices and holds competitions at Twining Park would have to relocate for all practice. Tennis splits its team and competitions between the four courts at the high school and four courts at Recreation Park. Twining Park has two courts, and North East Park has three, though the growth of pickleball around the area could disrupt scheduling. The soccer teams have been practicing and playing at T.R. Holyoke Field on the high school campus for the past few years, but could theoretically return to Honey Creek Park, where the programs called home for nearly two decades. 

Indoor activities, like volleyball, basketball and wrestling, as well as theater, could continue in the current facility until the new school is completed. Hockey, swimming and softball are already held off-site. 

At the proposed B&S property, the athletic complex would contain two full-size baseball fields for varsity and junior varsity use, as well as two softball fields, eight tennis courts and a new football/soccer stadium with a track, plus two practice fields for football, soccer and track and field to utilize.

An informational packet was sent to every district household last week, and more information on the entirety of the project — from concept in 2017 to where things sit in current planning, are available on the school’s website at www.monroeschools.com.

There will be no other Board of Education meetings before the informational meeting and land vote.