School Board Delays Decision on Moving District Office

The Greendale School Board will wait until next month to make a final decision about moving the district office to Greendale High School. That comes after the board was presented with a report on Monday by the committee in charge of finding a solution to overcrowding issues at Highland View Elementary and Canterbury Elementary.

The committee, made up of local residents as well as district administrators and staff, is recommending that the district office be temporarily moved to Greendale High School, along with the Park & Rec office. The move would allow the current district office space to be remodeled into six additional classrooms at Highland View Elementary, which is facing a shortage of classroom space for the 2011-12 school year.

The 4K and Early Childhood programs would also be consolidated at Highland View, freeing up two rooms at Canterbury Elementary, which is also at capacity. Future enrollment is predicted to increase at all the district elementary schools over the next few years. College Park Elementary is considered to be at capacity but is not as overcrowded as the other elementary schools.

The space for the district office and Park and Rec would come from remodeling an area at the high school currently used for wrestling/rec programs and from the no-long-used wood shop. A new child care center would also be added at the high school.

Committee member Jeff Kuhnke presented the report to the board, saying the committee looked at as many options as possible, including construction of a new permanent home for the district office. That option was ruled out because the estimated costs were in the $1 to $2 million dollar range, which they didn’t think the board would even consider.  He said the committee felt that housing the district office at the high school for 2 to 3 years was a more cost effective solution considering the current economic climate.  

“It wasn’t the ideal solution, but it was the best compromise to meet short-term needs while starting down the path to long-term solutions,” Kuhnke said.

Erin Green, Director of Business Services for the district, said the committee really liked the idea of the new childcare program being placed at GHS because high school students could help there, which would tie into the curriculum. The day care idea has proven popular with the community and would be open to local residents as well as children of district teachers and staff. It would also generate revenue for the district and has been something the Park and Rec department had been hoping to implement for a while.

The use of existing funds would be as follows:

Green stated that the project would leave at least a twenty-percent balance in both Fund 10 and Fund 80, which is important to preserve the school’s bond rating.

“There is no solution that doesn’t cost something, but this makes the most sense," said Green.

The committee is working with CG Schmidt, Epstein and Uhen and the Peter Scherr Development Group to come up with the plans for the remodeling. Those plans indicate the work at the high school would be ready in September, while the new classrooms at Highland View would be ready in January 2012. Peter Scherr spoke to the board about the necessity of making a decision soon in order to stay on this schedule.

However, Superintendent Dr. William Hughes urged the board not to make a hasty decision, but to proceed with caution.  He said that while the district is in good shape for the upcoming year, things are going to get financially tougher in years to come for many school districts considering the proposed Budget Repair Bill in Madison and its effect on state aid to schools.

 Hughes indicated that there are plans in place at Highland View to cope with the shortage of space for the start of the upcoming school year, such as converting the existing computer lab and part of the library to additional classrooms. He stated the board will not receive any information on how much state aid the district will receive until July.

Hughes suggested that the committee work continue to get firmer numbers. “Take a conservative, stark approach and be pleasantly surprised down the road. Keep the planning going, but don’t make a decision yet. Wait for firmer budget numbers and then act quickly," he advised the board.  

With that, the board opted to discuss the plan at their upcoming work session in two weeks and to make a final decision by the June 20 budget meeting.

In a phone interview after the board meeting, School Board President Tom Slota says he is still concerned over having to move the district office twice and said the board should consider the cost savings of moving the district office into a permanent home right away, even if it takes a little longer.

He said, ”Considering the students would not be able to use the new classrooms at Highland View for half the year anyway, why not wait on that and make the permanent move for the district office right away? Do it sooner and save on construction costs. If we can save a little money in the long run, let’s do it right.”

Slota went on to praise the committee, saying he applauds all their hard work and the plans they have developed to place the Park and Rec and child care center at the high school and the lay-out of the new classroom space at Highland View.