CONNECTION - Middleton Cross Plains Area School District

Understanding the Potential Referendum
Middleton Cross-Plains Area School District
School Board Considering Referendum Question for November Ballot
Why We Must Act Now
In an effort to address overcrowding at the
elementary school level and facility problems
at Kromrey Middle School, the Middleton-
Cross Plains Area School District Board of
Education is considering placing a referendum
question on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.
After repurposing some rooms to create
more classroom space after the failed 2009
referendum, the district’s estimated capacity
at its six elementary school buildings is
2,371. This year more than 2,660 students
are in those schools. The district is expecting
enrollment to grow by 1-2% over the next
decade, which means in just five years that
number is expected to climb above 2,800.
Kromrey has multiple issues
The rooms are smaller than an average
middle school classroom.
The lift that we use as an elevator for
children with disabilities isn’t compliant.
The elevator has broken numerous times,
A Brief History Lesson
It’s been 16 years since the Middleton-
Cross Plains Area School District built a new
elementary or middle school.
Glacier Creek Middle School and Sunset Ridge
Elementary opened in 1996. There were fewer
than 5,000 students in the District’s 10 schools
at that time. In 2011-12, there were 6,018
students in kindergarten through 12 th grade.
There have been four school referendums
since 1996:
1999: A new alternative high school and
high school remodel and expansion fail.
2000: A new alternative high school and
high school remodel and expansion pass.
2005: A new K-8 school at Pope Farms fails.
Additions to Northside, Sauk Trail and West
Middleton elementary schools pass.
2009: A new K-5 school at Pope Farms,
a rebuild of Kromrey Middle School and
additions to Park Elementary and Glacier
Creek fail.
In 2003, the Long Range Planning Committee
(LRPC) was formed to look at the facility needs
of the District and how to best handle longterm
growth. The committee has been made
up of community members, administrators
and staff members.
The LRPC reconvened in December 2010.
It looked at more than 20 options before
narrowing that list down to eight and,
eventually three.
All three options included moving fifthgraders
to the middle schools to alleviate
overcrowding at the elementary level. Two
options would have involved a remodel of
Kromrey, while a third suggested a rebuild.
An overwhelming majority of the LRPC
recommended to the Board of Education in
September 2011 that Kromrey be rebuilt.
The District hired an architect (Bray &
Associates) and a construction firm (J.H.
Findorff & Son) early in 2012 and has been
fine-tuning the Kromrey rebuild and Glacier
Creek addition since last fall.
most recently in May, and is currently unoperational.
There are limited outlets in classrooms, so
electrical cords are often all over the floor,
which can be a safety issue.
The walls between rooms are thin, which
means noise can be an issue.
The district’s estimated
capacity at its six elementary
school buildings is 2,371.
This year more than 2,660
students are in those schools.
In September 2010, the District had to
delay the opening of school for six days
due to mold in Kromrey. The school district
also must keep Kromrey closed throughout
the summer and run more than a dozen
large dehumidifiers to keep the mold from
returning.
The cost to maintain Kromrey over the next
5-7 years is $5-7 million. The District’s capital
Listening Session Set for June 25
The Board of Education wants to hear
from you. A special listening session
will be held prior to the regular board
meeting on Monday, June 25 at the District
Administrative Center, 7106 South Ave.,
Middleton. The session will begin at 6:30
p.m. and is scheduled to last 30 minutes.
maintenance budget for the 2012-13 school
year is $850,000. That means most, if not all,
of that budget would be used on Kromrey,
which would leave very few dollars for our
other nine schools. This fix only maintains the
building and does not solve the mold issue.
One of the options under consideration,
which originated with the district’s Long
Range Planning Committee, is to rebuild
Kromrey, expand Glacier Creek and move
future fifth-grade classes to the larger middle
schools. While this would mean change for
fifth-grade students, parents and staff, it is
simpler and less expensive than the options
presented in the 2009 referendum and will
allow additional program opportunities. It is
important to note that under this option, the
elementary and middle school boundaries
would remain unchanged.
The Board will continue to gather feedback
from community members in preparing for a
July or August vote on placing a referendum
question on the November ballot.
Community members are encouraged to
attend and offer feedback or ask questions
about a potential referendum in November.
The District held five engagement sessions
in May and about 100 people attended. The
District plans to hold more open houses
and informational sessions in the fall.
District Enrollment & Work Done to Address Facility Needs
The elementary
strings class at
Sunset Ridge
Elementary is
currently held in
the storage area.
There are three essential reasons why the
District must address its facility needs now.
1. Money is being wasted: The district
expects to spend $5-7 million over the next
five to seven years just to maintain Kromrey
Middle School. After that time, we will still have
an old building in need of more maintenance.
In the long run, it is less expensive to replace
the building altogether.
2. Enrollment continues to increase:
Our elementary schools are at 99 to 110%
capacity. Our elementary enrollment has
grown by more than 440 students in just nine
years, an average of over 2% a year.
At that rate of growth, our elementary
enrollment would be nearly 3,200 students by
the end of the decade. While the district staff
has worked to make the most of the existing
space, growing class sizes will make this
impossible in the future.
3. Building now is less expensive: The
fact is that as a result of the economy, it is
more affordable to purchase building supplies
now than it will be in the future. Interest rates
are also lower. The Board of Education wants
a referendum question that is less costly in
capital and operational costs than the one in
2009. The final numbers aren’t available yet,
but there is a good chance the tax impact
from this referendum will be 40% less than it
was in 2009. This solution also would provide
capacity for 100 more students than the
option presented in the 2009 referendum.