Posted: Oct. 21, 2009 |(0) Comments

Whitefish Bay — Voters will decide Nov. 3 whether the school district should go forward with plans to spend more than $22 million on repairing the schools, building a small addition to the high school and making other upgrades.

There will be two referendum questions on the ballot. One calls for providing $9 million to replace school roofs; upgrade fire alarms, heating and ventilation and electrical systems; repair brick exterior walls through tuck-pointing; and remodel bathrooms and school entrances to control access.

If that question is approved, a resident with a home assessed at $350,000 would pay $122 in taxes annually over the next 20 years. However, since the district is retiring $9 million in debt, school officials say that the measure would not increase tax bills.

The second question, with a $13.6 million price tag, calls for a new cafeteria/multipurpose rooms at the two elementary schools; a new gym floor at the middle school; a new music room at the high school; and the remodeling of vacant space in the high school to accommodate science and pre-engineering lab space and special education classrooms. It also would pay for technology upgrades and the relocation of the middle school orchestra room from the basement to the second floor.

Those improvements would add $250 per year to the tax bill of a home assessed at $350,000 over the next 20 years.

Facilities are aging

The district's buildings are getting old, and like all older structures, they need maintenance, according to Shawn Yde, the district's director of business services.

"Roofs and tuck-pointing are the top two priorities," he said, pointing out that puddles on the roof during rains are deteriorating mortar at the high school.

The high school, built in the 1930s, has corroded water pipes and lacks adequate electrical outlets. Pipe replacement and electrical upgrades are also important parts of the proposal, said Gary Siegman, district director of building and grounds.

The School Board created a facilities study committee in 2006. The referendum addresses the findings, although the board reduced the maintenance proposal from $14 to $9 million.

"That is a no-tax increase option because the district is retiring $9 million in debt," Yde said. "That was done intentionally because of the current economic environment. Moving music classrooms to a proposed new addition that would be built on the east side of the high school, near the auditorium, would allow the conversion of that space to special education classrooms.

"We have some kids coming from middle school to the high school next year who have medical needs," he added. The proposed special education classrooms would have feeding tables and showers that are missing in the current setup. The classrooms would also be larger and provide better wheelchair access.

Organized support, opposition

Two groups have emerged in the village - one for and one against the referendum.

Doug Armstrong heads the YesYes group whose blue signs are sprinkled on lawns throughout the village.

"It is an individual decision, if you feel it is something you can afford," Armstrong said. "We do feel the questions are a 'Pay me now or pay me' later kind of thing."

Deferred maintenance, for instance, typically leads to larger maintenance projects and higher costs, he said.

Jamie Kowalski, chairman of an opposition group called Concerned Whitefish Bay Voters, said he would like to see better documentation for the proposals.

"We are skeptical that we have the right plan," he said.

He is also bothered by the timing of the election.

The referendum is the only item on the November ballot, and in fact, no one else in the North Shore is even holding an election on Nov. 3.

"Any election gets a low turnout when there are no major candidates," he said.

Moreover, asking voters to approve spending millions of dollars in the middle of a recession is questionable, he said.

Armstrong, who was a member of the facilities study committee, believes the group developed a plan that makes sense for the community.

Interest rates are extremely low now, making the cost of borrowing less than it has been for years, Yde said. Revenue caps diminish the district's ability to pay for maintenance, he said.

"We don't have enough reserve funds to do this," Yde said.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 3.