NEENAH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Neenah School District is pushing ahead with a school improvement referendum.
In April, voters struck down a plan that cost almost $130 million. That was one of the biggest referendums in state history, but the next vote could be even bigger.
The Neenah Joint School District has been meeting with voters since April’s referendum failed.
Scott Dallman tells FOX 11…
“The long-term vision wasn’t in place, it was more of just a single referendum, whereas, now we’re going to be looking at a more complete solution.”
The District created five different pathways, using public feedback, and presented those options Monday night.
“We want to get the community’s feedback on those, as far as the pros and cons of each one, which ones they like best, which ones aren’t gonna fly…” communications manager for the Neenah Joint School District Jim Stick said.
But this time around, Strick tells FOX 11 the price tags range from $238 million to $345 million.
“We’ve got some strategies that maybe we can use going forward financially to help with this, so that’s part of the talking points, as well.”
$84 million of the narrowly rejected $129.5 million-spring referendum would’ve been used to replace Shattuck Middle School.
“I think there were other pieces of that referendum that most people would support. I’m sure there are other factors, but certainly having that middle school replacement as the centerpiece was problematic for that referendum,” Dallman said.
Stick says not providing a longterm solution for other needs in the district was one complaint many had about the previous referendum.
“That was the biggest thing that we heard was that, ‘You guys aren’t looking to the future; you’re addressing a need here now, but there’s a lot more out there and what are you going to do next?’”
The five pathways the District identified are meant to address some of those needs, and create a “big picture” plan for the next 20 years.
Monday was the first of four community engagement sessions.
People split into groups and discussed each of the options.
Most of the pathways are focused on middle and high school spaces. All five call for elementary school changes, including expansions, renovations or closings.
District leaders will take the feedback from these meetings to the Board of Education on August 27th for consideration.
Three more meetings are scheduled. Those are happening on July 24th, July 29th, and August 15th.
Those who can’t make it to any of the meetings can view all the pathways, and provide feedback online.
