MONROE — The district’s new high school is taking shape east of town off Wis. 11 and 31st Avenue, as officials — board members, staff, and community members — recently returned from the latest site visit to building now under heavy construction.

That progress on the $88 million project has been hampered somewhat by recent rainy weather, with mud and soft ground a major factor, officials said, but they remain undaunted about completing it on time.

Plus, there’s excitement “out there as both the rain came down and the frost is leaving the ground so we’re excited…to see the warm weather and hopefully that will get the frost out of the ground even faster,” said District Business Manager Ron Olson, who updated the board at its March 10 regular meeting.

Crews also are working on installing decking on parts of the building, including on the CTE wing, and over the public services wing, he said. Two of the upper-deck floors have been poured. Next up is some exterior steel stud work.

The project is about six weeks away from starting work on the first-floor flooring, he added.

In mid- to late-April the precast crews will be back on site — many of the main walls are precast and brought to the site, which speeds construction time and ensures quality. Steelworkers are continuing their work on key parts of the building, including the field house and academic wings.

All the progress makes for “exciting stuff … we’re at the point now where …you know in a week or two you really can see a lot of work being done and then once we get the roof up and the last of the exterior walls (go) up,” he said.

The completion date remains April 2026, with the first school year slated to enter for the 2026-2027 term, he said. Major renovations also are being done to Abraham Lincoln Elementary as part of the 2022, $88 million building referendum approved by voters. A subsequent vote against a $1.5 million recurring operating referendum for the district failed, however, leaving the district scrambling to make big budget cuts, even as it looks forward to a new era for MHS.

In other business, the board at the March 10 meeting received a lengthy update on the implementation of Evidence Based Grading standards in the district, with an eye on continuing that transition into the next school year.