NEW GLARUS - School officials want to know what New Glarus residents think before deciding whether the district should build a new high school and other facilities for an expected enrollment jump in future years.
The board plans to send out a 20-question survey to residents sometime after its Nov. 8 meeting to gauge public opinion on the issue, said Bill Conzemius, district superintendent. The board is working on the second draft of the survey and expects to approve the final version Nov. 8.
"If the community survey comes back with a lot of critical responses, the board will go back to the drawing board," Conzemius said.
In fact, the board has made it clear that it doesn't intend to rush any decision.
"There's no timeline for when we have to make a decision," Conzemius said, adding that the board also doesn't want to prolong the process indefinitely.
In March the board hired Plunkett-Raysich and Associates to analyze the district's building and maintenance needs, Conzemius said. After a three-month study, the firm offered six proposals to the board.
On Sept. 27, officials narrowed the construction ideas to two.
The first plan calls for the district to build a two-story addition to the high school for grades five through eight - at a cost of about $19 million, which includes $4.7 million for a new elementary school. The second plan calls for the district to build a new elementary school for pre-kindergarten through fourth grade, at a cost of about $15.5 million.
Students in grades five through eight would be located in the present elementary school. At the present time, New Glarus has an elementary school and a middle/high school.
Although the board has narrowed the ideas to two, the other ideas, which included building an intermediate school for grades five through eight, or building a new high school, haven't been removed from consideration completely, Conzemius said.
"The board has been tentative about nailing down the options available," he said.
Two public meetings were held in October to weigh opinions of residents. About 70 people attended the two meetings, Conzemius said.
He added that the meetings showed there is a wide range of opinions from district residents on the matter.
"They were all over the map," he said of residents' views. "A few were concerned about the economy and taxes, a few were supportive and some weren't sure how they felt."
Some who support the idea of new construction said it would be better to build now because interest rates are low and construction companies need the work, so bids for the project might be lower.
The district needs to do something in the near future, Conzemius said. There will be a need for more space in buildings over the next few years.
The district has a student population of about 900 and a study done by a group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in August determined the district's enrollment will continue to increase over the next 10 years. Conzemius didn't have an exact number of how many more students would be enrolled in the district, but characterized it as "moderate growth."
There are also maintenance issues that need to be addressed, he added. The elementary school needs roof repairs, new and more energy efficient windows, and also has moisture problems. He said the maintenance work needs to be done soon - regardless of what the district does in terms of construction. However, if the district decides to build, the maintenance work for the elementary building could be included in the referendum, which would have to pass before the board could approve new construction.
Conzemius said it's up to the community and the board to decide what it wants to do, but it can't ignore the issues much longer.
"If we knew we were going to referendum, we'd know what we need to do," he said.
The board plans to send out a 20-question survey to residents sometime after its Nov. 8 meeting to gauge public opinion on the issue, said Bill Conzemius, district superintendent. The board is working on the second draft of the survey and expects to approve the final version Nov. 8.
"If the community survey comes back with a lot of critical responses, the board will go back to the drawing board," Conzemius said.
In fact, the board has made it clear that it doesn't intend to rush any decision.
"There's no timeline for when we have to make a decision," Conzemius said, adding that the board also doesn't want to prolong the process indefinitely.
In March the board hired Plunkett-Raysich and Associates to analyze the district's building and maintenance needs, Conzemius said. After a three-month study, the firm offered six proposals to the board.
On Sept. 27, officials narrowed the construction ideas to two.
The first plan calls for the district to build a two-story addition to the high school for grades five through eight - at a cost of about $19 million, which includes $4.7 million for a new elementary school. The second plan calls for the district to build a new elementary school for pre-kindergarten through fourth grade, at a cost of about $15.5 million.
Students in grades five through eight would be located in the present elementary school. At the present time, New Glarus has an elementary school and a middle/high school.
Although the board has narrowed the ideas to two, the other ideas, which included building an intermediate school for grades five through eight, or building a new high school, haven't been removed from consideration completely, Conzemius said.
"The board has been tentative about nailing down the options available," he said.
Two public meetings were held in October to weigh opinions of residents. About 70 people attended the two meetings, Conzemius said.
He added that the meetings showed there is a wide range of opinions from district residents on the matter.
"They were all over the map," he said of residents' views. "A few were concerned about the economy and taxes, a few were supportive and some weren't sure how they felt."
Some who support the idea of new construction said it would be better to build now because interest rates are low and construction companies need the work, so bids for the project might be lower.
The district needs to do something in the near future, Conzemius said. There will be a need for more space in buildings over the next few years.
The district has a student population of about 900 and a study done by a group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in August determined the district's enrollment will continue to increase over the next 10 years. Conzemius didn't have an exact number of how many more students would be enrolled in the district, but characterized it as "moderate growth."
There are also maintenance issues that need to be addressed, he added. The elementary school needs roof repairs, new and more energy efficient windows, and also has moisture problems. He said the maintenance work needs to be done soon - regardless of what the district does in terms of construction. However, if the district decides to build, the maintenance work for the elementary building could be included in the referendum, which would have to pass before the board could approve new construction.
Conzemius said it's up to the community and the board to decide what it wants to do, but it can't ignore the issues much longer.
"If we knew we were going to referendum, we'd know what we need to do," he said.