Muskego-Norway School Board Recap

The met Monday night, and discussed various aspects of the upcoming referendum special election, which will determine if the district will be able to move forward on a $30 million plan to build a new elementary school and renovate others.

The board reviewed a draft of the mailer set to go out to all residents next week, which will closely mirror the information on the district's website. Dr. Joe Schroeder, superintendent for the district, said he hoped to stress the reduction in property tax impact of $52 from the last referendum proposal.  (The savings is based on the average home value in Muskego of $291,300.)

Along with a mailer, the district's website will feature an informational video in the next couple of weeks to present the case for the referendum.

In addition, the board voted to approve the amendment to polling places on November 8 to accommodate 11 registered voters in the City of New Berlin who are a part of the district based on historical boundaries.  Rather than opening a polling place in New Berlin, the voters will cast their ballots at the third district polling station at , which Director of Business Services Scott Ecker estimated would save the district $1,000-$2,000.

Bay Lane Associate Principal

Schroeder also told the board that the hiring process for an associate principal for , vacated by Jeff Peterson who is now principal at Muskego Elementary, is nearly complete. Final interviews were conducted on Friday, September 9 and he said background checks were underway to complete the process.  The decision should come before the board at its next meeting on September 26.

Busing

Back-to-school was also a new start for the district with their new transportation partner, Lamers Transporation Services.  Despite concerns last school year, when the district announced it was severing ties with Durham School Services to save dollars, Ecker reported that overall the first two weeks of school has been relatively smooth.

"The students are seeing many of the same faces, as Lamers retained more than 90 percent of the drivers from Durham," he said.  

The only problems encountered involved AT&T phone service to the terminal, and parents could not reach Lamers with questions or issues at times. Ecker said that the issue was resolved, but parents should be aware that the company has a 24-hour line (800-236-1240) if they are unable to reach the Muskego terminal.

Durham Drive reconstruction has impacted some 200 students according to Ecker, and they are trying to maintain routes as closely to what they were previously.  He said the route should be "completely passable by the end of September, and paved by the end of October."