By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
Members of the East Troy Community School District Board of Education said they’ve heard what some community members want in a facility needs referendum, but are unsure of how to make it happen within the budget they have.
With the special working referendum meetings being well attended this month and residents speaking out about building a new school or adding on at the Prairie View site, the board asked Bray Architects to bring back plans to accomplish that.
The problem lies with the cost. These options have been looked at by the board and to build a new school on the Prairie View site, it’s going to cost the district $13 million to $15 million. With the plans at the High School remaining the same at $7 million and an additional $1 million the board wants to add for work at the Middle School, that puts the total cost somewhere between $21 million to $23 million, not including money needed for demolition of Chester Byrnes and Doubek or the cost of inflation.
It also does not solve the problem of where to house administration.
To keep a “zero tax impact” on school referendum, the district can only spend about $22.5 million.
That number has increased from the $20.8 million in the November referendum because of the continued debt fall off from the 1999 referendum, as district Business Manager Kathy Zwirgzdas explained during the Dec. 16 special referendum meeting.
Because the Nov. 4 referendum failed, the district ability to borrow increased when the debt decreased. This is a good thing, because even with the projected 3-4 percent increase in building and material costs because the project are being set back, the district will still have about $900,000 more to work with than it did with the last proposed referendum and still keep it from increasing taxes.
However, the bad news with that is the window to get a referendum passed to do that is closing rapidly. Zwirgzdas told the board if the district can’t get a referendum passed by 2016, the debt will fall off to the point where the district can no longer keep they payouts at the same level they have been with the hope of layering in the new debt from proposed construction costs.
“The bar lowers at that point,” Zwirgzdas said.
Once that bar drops, the tax levy drops. “About $240 for a $150,000 house,” Zwirgzdas added.
So, the board is presented with the real problem of getting a referendum together that the community will support, the sooner the better.
And the extra $900,000 they have to work with will not cover a new school on the Prairie View site.
According to Matt Wolfert of Bray Architects, a new primary school (pre-K through first grade) will cost $13 million to $15 million.
Community members were vocal in the Dec. 16 meeting about wanting a new school at Prairie View, but not having it exceed the $12 that was allotted for the Doubek Elementary School addition in the last referendum.
Wolfert said it was the major site improvement needed to configure the ground with new parking and drop off/pick up areas that was running up the cost.
There was some talk by the board of adding on to Prairie View to save costs, but board member agreed that the reason they had looked at that option before and decided against it was because it would create too big of a school with 700 plus students and they didn’t think that was a good choice, especially for the younger students.
The real question with this scenario is whether the community is willing to invest in education and pony up a little bit more to meet the elementary needs of the district.
Board Member Chris Smith said he thought residents would be willing to pay a small increase on their taxes if the district offered a real solution to the problem. In the past, he said, the district asked what the community was willing to pay and then went from there to find a solution within the dollar amount.
Smith said if the district presents the community the right solution, he believed they would be willing to pay a little more.
“I’m comfortable going over a zero tax impact,” Smith said.
“You really think they’ll vote yes after three failed referendums?” Board President Ted Zess asked incredulously.
“Yes, I do,” Smith said.
“I’m really worried,” Zess said. “We have one chance here.”
District Administrator Chris Hibner chimed in saying if the board decided to ask for more than the $22.5 million, it would me a lot of phone calls and convincing people in the community it was the right plan.
Middle School
The board discussed putting back the $1 million of proposed work at the Middle School that was taken out of the last referendum.
Middle School Principal Peter Syens spoke to the board about the needs of the school. He said he was willing to defer a lot of the necessary work needed there in the last referendum because he and his staff felt the needs of the elementary schools took priority, but acknowledged the difficulty in utilizing 21st century learning techniques in spaces not designed for them.
“I think we can do a little more at the Middle School than what we had in the last referendum,” Board Member Dawn Buchholtz said.
While I have disagreed with Mr. Smith on occasion, he is correct on this one. I too believe that the public is willing to pay more IF the value is there.
Seek a willing developer and sell the parcel of land on which Doubek, Byrnes, and the Administrative offices sit. Develop a solution to add a second elementary school on the same parcel as Prairie View so that there can be efficiencies in staff and resources, but maintain it as a separate and distinct building so that we don’t have the 700 student facility that some fear.
Cost is only the most important factor in the absence of value. Improve the value of the downtown area by making better use of land currently owned by the District, but more importantly, improve the value of the District (and ALL of our long-term property values) by creating a more attractive and functional educational environment for our youngest students.
“The real question with this scenario is whether the community is willing to invest in education and pony up a little bit more to meet the elementary needs of the district.” Yes, I am.