Here's when Appleton plans to finish construction on its new elementary school and other referendum projects
APPLETON - With all the votes counted, the Appleton Area School District has started laying more concrete plans for its referendum projects.
On multiple occasions leading up to Election Day, Superintendent Greg Hartjes said the district didn’t want to sink too much money or time into drawing up plans in case voters didn’t support the projects.
But with the referendum now approved, the district can start working on specifics with the architects and finance team, he said at a recent school board meeting. Any drawings and designs made before the vote were for cost estimates, but the next steps will address more details to each project.
“That’s a lot of fun for everybody who’s involved, and a lot of time that will go into it,” he said. “Obviously, we want to make the best decisions around these projects that will last in our district for maybe 50 to 75 to 100 years.”
The $130 million capital referendum can be broken into four main projects, each with its own timeline for design and construction. They include: building a new elementary school, building additions at middle schools, remodeling existing elementary schools and building additions at the high schools.
Hartjes said board members will hear more about plans for borrowing the money at a work session at the end of November. The district will likely split the borrowing into three phases so as not to take on all of the debt at once.
Here’s the working timeline Hartjes laid out for the design and construction phases for each of the projects. There is some overlap, but the projects are listed in order of projected completion.
Middle school projects: $47 million
Design: November 2022 to July 2023
Construction: August 2023 to August 2024
New elementary school: $36 million
Design: November 2022 to October 2023
Construction: November 2023 to April 2025
School to open in summer/fall of 2025
High school projects: $33.8 million
Design: September 2023 to May 2024
Construction: June 2024 to August 2025
Elementary remodel: $13 million
Design: July 2024 to December 2024
Construction: January 2025 to August 2025
More:Voters approve a $130 million referendum for Appleton school district
The district can’t take on all the projects at one time, so Hartjes said the middle school projects will be first because they will allow sixth-graders to be moved out of the elementary schools, which he hopes to do by fall 2024.
For the elementary remodel, there’s a possibility the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) classrooms could be ready as early as fall 2024. But those projects also require new curriculum, technology, electrical work and other components to actually run those spaces that could take longer.
Appleton Area School District referendum timeline
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Operational money could be used much sooner
In addition to the capital projects, voters also approved $5 million a year in additional operating expenses for the district. That money could be used as soon as fall 2023.
Perhaps the first referendum-induced change that will affect students is reduced class size for kindergarten, first and second grades. Hartjes said they plan to implement that next fall.
“There’s no reason to wait,” he said.
The only challenge will be making sure there is enough space for 18 to 20 students in a classroom. Some elementary schools have limited space, so in those cases the district may have two teachers with a class of 30 students in one room.
Starting in January, February and March, the district would then look to start hiring those additional positions.
Four STEM paraprofessionals will be hired for fall 2024 at the middle school level. If the elementary STEM rooms are ready by then, the district will also look at hiring the needed staff for those — but again, it could be fall 2025 before they are ready.
The district may add either assistant principals or deans next fall at the middle schools. With sixth grade moving in, those schools will now be anywhere from 550 to 950 students. It would be helpful to add those staff members next year so they can help plan the transition.
Reach AnnMarie Hilton at ahilton@gannett.com or 920-370-8045. Follow her on Twitter at @hilton_annmarie.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Appleton school district timeline for referendum construction projects
