School Board approves referendum questions for spring election
By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
In a unanimous vote Monday night the East Troy School Board approved two referendum questions to bring the School District’s facility needs to referendum on April 7 in the Spring General Election.
This is the fourth time the School District has brought a facility needs referendum to the table. The first referendum failed at $17.2 million failed in November of 2012. The district went to referendum again for $19 million in April of 2013 and that effort also failed. The last referendum for $20.8 million failed in November of 2014.
The four-member board – Ted Zess, Martha Bresler, Dawn Buchholtz and Steve Lambrechts – agreed to asked the community for $22.5 million to renovate and improve the High School and Middle School, renovate part of Doubek Elementary to house administration and alternative education, and build a new PreK through first grade elementary school at the Prairie View site along with improving safety and traffic flow on the site.
“This vote was important to allow the district to move forward on improving our facilities by addressing deferred maintenance projects, supporting student learning for today and tomorrow, and provide a long-term vision for our school system,” Board President Zess wrote in a statement Tuesday morning.
The $22.5 million the district is asking for will not increase property taxes for residents in the district because of the debt fall off from the 1999 Prairie View construction and other district improvements referendum.
“This zero dollar tax impact with such a large capital improvement amount is possible due to the district’s current long-term debt being effectively managed and due to debt being paid off,” Zess wrote.
The second question the board approved asks the community for an addition $2.2 million to make the new elementary school a PreK through second grade. If approved, this addition money would allow the district to move second grade out of Prairie View and put the students in the new school. Prairie View was built for grades 3-5, but when Chester Byrnes was closed, second grade was moved into the building.
According to district administration and staff, housing second graders in the new building with the younger students would be optimal.
“This is a PreK through grade five solution for the district,” District Administrator Chris Hibner said at Monday night’s meeting.
However, if the second question fails at referendum, the new school will be construction with large enough core areas to put an addition on at a later date to house second grade.
The second referendum question, if approved, will mean a small increase to property taxes. A $150,000 home in the district would see a $24 annual increase to its tax bill.
Where’s the money going?
The project scope for the referendum include:
• $12.3 million to build new PreK through first grade school at Prairie View (if the second referendum question is approved by the voters, another $2.2 million will go to making the new school a PreK through second-grade facility);
• $169,605 to renovate Doubek Elementary to house administration and alternative education and an additional $125,000 for partial demolition of the building if necessary;
• $1.1 million to upgrade the Middle School;
• $7.7 million for additions and renovations to the High School;
• $1 million to be used for furnishings, fixtures and equipment;
• $225,000 set aside for possible demolition of Chester Byrnes if it’s needed at a future date.
Zess encouraged anyone with questions to contact him or any of the board members (contact information can be found at www.easttroy.k12.wi.us), or district administration at (262) 642-6710.
