$22.1 million referendum for schools planned in Lake Mills

By Helen Mansfield for the Daily Times
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:55 PM CST

LAKE MILLS - The Lake Mills Area School Board decided Monday that it is ready to schedule a school referendum on April 3. The board approved an initial resolution authorizing general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $22.1 million.

The money will be needed to pay the cost of constructing additions to and remodeling, renovating and improving the Lake Mills Middle and High schools and sites; and acquiring furnishings, fixtures and equipment.

The board also authorized the school district to budget to exceed revenue limits for five years for non-recurring purposes.

The budget action would allow the district to exceed the revenue limits by $600,000 per year for five years, commencing in the 2007-08 school year and ending in the 2011-12 school year for operation and maintenance costs; technology replacements and additions; instructional staff and materials; and the cost of street assessments.

Representatives from Miron Construction, Bray Architects and Retler Corp. have worked with a community Facilities Committee to come up with a plan for upgrading the high school and middle school and athletic fields that will be explained and discussed at two more public meetings on March 7 and 14.

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“This is a very serious resolution,” board member Bob Dimperio said. “We're not moving forward lightly.” He noted that the board has sought help from the consultants and community about how to solve the problems.

There were two members from the public heard from. Hartmut Volberg said that the middle school project looks very expensive, so it might be better to sell the whole property and move out to the south green fields that the school district owns. But Greg Douglas from Miron said the middle school structure is very solid and would be cost effective to keep. It would cost $16 million to build a new school, and in the long term it would be better to build the next elementary school at the green site some day.

He also asked if the middle school addressed the long-term enrollment needs and was told that there are provisions for four classes per grade levels and a floater classroom at each level for “bubbles” in enrollment.

Jay Wiedenfeld made the other comment, commending the committee and board for “doing a wonderful job so far”, especially using the space to the west of the middle school that the district had bought earlier and eliminating the need for a enclosed walkway to the old gym building.

There have been variations as planning went along, but the middle school plan now calls for building a new gym with two full courts to the west of the main building on the vacant land recently purchased. New construction also places the cafeteria, kitchen, offices, new rest rooms, storage, locker rooms and weight room west of the existing main school building.

The plan uses the site for a five through eight school with proper room configurations and sizes. The upper floor would have a center core enclosed with library, computer lab, special ed and art on the sides. The main entrance and office area would be on the west off a new parking lot so students no longer have to go through the supply receiving area in the present parking lot. There would be a milling area leading to the cafeteria and beyond that the new two-station gym.

The plan puts grades five and six on the upper floor and grades seven and eight on the lower floor. The lower floor houses the center core for family and consumer education and a computer lab with classrooms and science, foreign language, health and special education around it. A new elevator will reach all levels. The lowest level houses the music and band, tech ed classroom and lab, team changing rooms and opens to outdoor green space and hard surface playground area.

The football field would be improved and the baseball field would be relocated to the high school site adjacent to the new practice fields, which will give the additional playground and green space for the middle school site.

The overlapping of the football field and the present baseball field has led to substandard fields that do not meet WIAA guidelines and the fields can not drain properly. The remodeling plan dos not include the present gym because public input did not favor putting money into that building, especially for a cafeteria in the basement.

Changes in the high school call for the music area, toilet rooms, locker rooms, IMC, main office, lobby and entrance to be updated and some windows, HVAC, flooring, ceilings and lighting replaced. The slanted, old auditorium area would be modified into usable space for vocal and band music, stage production materials and storage. The lower level would include a fitness center/weights area, multipurpose area and constructing small-buildings area.

In regard to taxes, the current mill rate is $7.17 per thousand of valuation. The passage of this first question would be an increase of $1.77 and the five-year $600,000 question would average 67 cents, making a total of $9.59, about the same as the 2004-05 mill rate.

In other action, the board approved the resignation of part-time educator Candi Diaz and the hiring of Jennifer Roy for that position.

The board approved staff retirements with regrets for Gloria Darnall, Pat Hauser, Judith Murray, Sue Slauson and Barbara Zastrow at the end of the school year.

Board members approved Lake Mills' participation in the Title 3 consortium with the Jefferson and Fort Atkinson School Districts to be eligible for its portion of the grant used for the English as a second language program.

The board approved a list of students applying to take Youth Options classes not available in this district for the first semester of the 2007-08 school year. High School Principal Bob Gilpatrick said that the list is shorter than usual because students can now take virtual classes.

The board approved the high school advanced placement history/biographies class field trip to Springfield, Ill. on April 11 and 12.

Matt and Karen Miller read a letter of tribute to special education teacher Dayna Loften for help with their son, John. They nominated her as a Top-Notch teacher of the month who can be seen on Channel 3 this month during the evening news report.

District business manager Wendy Brockert reminded everyone that the spring election will occur during the district's spring break, so voters should remember to get absentee ballots.

The board adjourned to closed session to consider employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data and non-renewals as required by state statute.