Board continues to take steps toward long-range consolidations Nov. 25, 2009 The Antigo school board Tuesday continued to take tiny steps toward a possible elementary school consolidation plan, but any decision and action will be months—or years—in the future.
Following extensive discussion, Board President Gary Kieper said that a special session will be held in January, allowing administrators time to crunch more numbers and perhaps ease the nine-member panel toward a decision that will be painful for some and nearly impossible for others.
“I would like to keep this thing moving along so we can do something with it and not just talk,” Kieper said, noting that years have already been spent on long-range planning with no actions taken. “I would like to see this board make a commitment.”
The administrative staff was directed to refine numbers concerning potential savings from consolidating the three city elementary schools—North, West and East—and Pleasant View Elementary at one central location, probably near the high school.
The district’s remaining rural schools—Crestwood, Spring Valley and Mattoon—would remain in operation, at least for now.
District Administrator Roxann Bornemann called it a “conceptual plan,” and asked the board to offer guidance on whether that is the direction it wished to take.
And she warned that doing nothing carries expenses of its own. The district already suffers from educational inequalities due to the wide range, age and enrollment of elementary facilities. To maintain that ineffective status quo would cost an additional $900,000 a year, which the district does not have, and would not improve education, she stressed.
“Right now we have inequalities in our services to the composition of our district,” she said, adding that conservative board actions along with years of budget and staff cuts, are taking a toll. “It is becoming a real challenge to be fair and equitable.”
In early October, the board laid the groundwork for future facility discussions and a possible referendum vote, going on record as supporting the current elementary, middle school and high school grade configuration. Members also directed administration to gather detailed enrollment and cost information on several elementary alternatives.
Preliminary consolidation plans pace the cost of a new elementary school at between $13.2 million and $24.3 million, depending on the number of schools included in consolidation.
The option the board appears to be leaning toward—combining the three city schools plus Pleasant View—carries a price tag of roughly $16.5 million.
Director of Business Services Mary Jo Filbrandt estimated operational savings at about $622,500 annually under that option.
Board members requested refined information on operational savings under a full or partial elementary consolidation plan, along with further details on the property tax impact of a school building plan.
And they also asked the staff to come up with a “status quo” scenario, of how to maintain services at all the existing facilities.
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