MONROE — The Monroe School Board continues to collect information as it prepares for a district-wide referendum, possibly in fall of 2020, to create a joint middle school-high school and make other building changes.
The board Aug. 12 discussed some of the key points of the concept with Steven Kieckhafer of Plunkett Raysich Architects of Madison. It’s the third-straight meeting in which the board has discussed details of the projected $85 million project, which began as one option investigated by a community committee of the school district. That committee worked for more than a year before forwarding the option, which is now considered a “preliminary concept plan.”
The district is attempting to seek public support to improve significant shortcomings at school facilities in the district which impact education in all grades. The estimated cost of the project for taxpayers is $2.50 per $1,000 of property value, or $250 in additional school taxes per each $100,000 in property value owned per year over a period of 20 years.
In discussing the joint middle school-high school concept, which would be a combination of new construction and remodeling of current building space at the high school, Kieckhafer said the district would be “creating a new building overall.”
The board discussed with Kieckhafer 14 key features of the concept. This included a new high school main entrance, new high school classroom additions, a new middle school main entrance, renovated existing classrooms and buildings, a new cafeteria and commons, a new library, additions to the building for specialized classrooms, renovation of existing gymnasiums, renovation of the Performing Arts Center, adding a new gymnasium that would include a wrestling room, a music addition, an upgrade to the exterior façade of the existing building, the relocation and creation of new tennis courts and the relocation of parking lots.
One of the items discussed by the board was the need for two separate entrances – one for the middle school and one for the high school, a concept added later to keep older and younger students separate. Kieckhafer said students would only share portions of the building, like the cafeteria and special classroom spaces.
District Administrator Rick Waski said because the project is in the conceptual stage, the school board isn’t tied to any single portion and there could be a number of changes in the concept before it’s considered by the public.
The concept, if accepted by the public, would lead to changes in education as a whole in Monroe. Abe Lincoln Elementary school would be closed and Parkside and Northside Elementary Schools would become pre-K-3 facilities. Monroe Middle School would be changed into an “intermediate” school to educate students in grades 4-6. The middle school-high school would be a combination of new construction and remodeled existing spaces to educate students in grades 7-12.
The remodel of the high school would require the district to purchase approximately 10 acres of land currently owned by others. Also, the board has discussed at length the need to have the school staff, parents, students and district residents as a whole agree the changes are needed.
Waski said many people in the public consider the PAC a new facility, but it and other of the newest portions of the high school are 20 years old and were built in the 1990s. The conceptual plan addresses significant problems from poor drainage to sinking floors.
Board member Jim Plourde asked about the possible length of construction for the project if approved, and Kieckhafer said it would run between 24 to 30 months. Waski said the district may have to ask the state Department of Public Instruction for the ability to alter the traditional start of classes on the first Tuesday after Sept. 1 in an effort to accommodate construction schedules.
Safety would be a major focus for the district because construction would be ongoing as students attend school.
Waski said the school board, in each of the next two months, would discuss information on the preliminary concept. The board is planning to send at least six pages of information on the concept to the public in its winter newsletter.