By Vanessa Lenz
SLN Staff
On Monday, the East Troy Community School District will review recommendations on the future of the K-12 district’s buildings.
An ad-hoc Facilities Advisory Committee, comprised of community members from across the district, has been reviewing the state of the district’s facilities since May.
The 25-member group was tasked with going through and prioritizing the district’s laundry list of facility upgrades.
At the school board’s meeting July 30, business manager Kathy Zwirgzdas and committee member Ted Zess gave board members a preview of the committee’s findings.
Among the report was the need for an elementary school upgrade following the closure of Chester Byrnes in fall 2010 due to a lengthy list of repairs needed.
The option stems from a community survey in which a prevailing theme from respondents was a desire to have a new elementary school constructed.
Another recommendation on the table is the construction of a Performing Arts Center at East Troy High School and an upgrade to the district’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) areas.
The Facilities Committee will bring forward a formal recommendation to the school board on the district’s long-range facilities master plan during its meeting Monday, Aug. 13, which begins at 7 p.m.
“We need to ask, ‘Are you addressing the needs that need to be met?’” District Administrator Dr. Christopher Hibner said.
The board will need to determine how upgrades would be financed.
Zwirgzdas said the district’s planning, which has included paying off some of its debt early, has put it in a position where a significant amount of facility work can be done with little or no impact on the debt levy taxes.
Plans to move forward with the project will most likely need to be approved voters in a referendum.
Zwirgzdas said the committee would probably recommend the board place a referendum question on the November 2012 ballot.
Zwirgzdas said a complete upgrade to Prairie View Elementary School, including safety and security items, the PAC and STEM upgrades would cost $25.6 million.
According to preliminary estimates, this would include a tax increase of $87 on a $150,000 home.
Officials have been grappling with facility planning the past few years in the East Troy Community School District. A comprehensive study of the district’s existing buildings was conducted in 2009. Community surveys and other supplementary studies were conducted in an effort to assemble a long-range plan.
The school board will need to make a decision by Aug. 25 if it plans to go to a referendum.
“It’s going to be an intense meeting,” said board member Mike Zei.
