July 24, 2024
At the July 23 Sheboygan Area School District Board of Education meeting, the Board voted to approve a resolution to place a referendum question on the November 5, 2024, ballot.
The Sheboygan Area School District will ask the community to invest $121 million by supporting a referendum to rebuild and remodel Urban and Farnsworth Middle Schools, which are approaching 100 years old. If a majority of voters support the referendum, the property tax mill rate would increase by $0.20 and still remain below the 2022-23 level. This amount would represent an annual tax increase of $20 for every $100,000 of a home’s value.
In May, the Sheboygan Area School District surveyed the community to gather feedback on the proposed project. More than 3,300 residents responded to the survey. A majority of all key subgroups support the District pursuing a referendum to address the middle school challenges.
The District used the survey results and feedback from the five community meetings to guide the plan for a referendum in November. The most notable change is the decision to move the Urban Middle School project back to the existing school campus, rather than building at Mill and Najacht Roads.
Like the Farnsworth Middle School plan, the revised plan keeps Urban at its current location and includes major remodeling to a portion of the building and rebuilding a large section of the school. Both plans provide solutions for improved parent drop-off and pick-up, new secure entrances easily accessible from the parking lot, appropriately sized classrooms, more natural light in classrooms and student spaces, and increased parking.
The plan to rebuild and remodel Urban Middle School at its existing location will cost less than the initially proposed plan and lowers the overall referendum amount by $5 million.
The District prioritizes fiscal responsibility and has not placed a referendum question on the ballot since 2016. Updating the two oldest middle school buildings has been part of the District's long-range facility plan for years, and $14 million has been saved to put toward these projects and decrease the overall amount of the referendum.
July 24, 2024
At the July 23 Sheboygan Area School District Board of Education meeting, the Board voted to approve a resolution to place a referendum question on the November 5, 2024, ballot.
The Sheboygan Area School District will ask the community to invest $121 million by supporting a referendum to rebuild and remodel Urban and Farnsworth Middle Schools, which are approaching 100 years old. If a majority of voters support the referendum, the property tax mill rate would increase by $0.20 and still remain below the 2022-23 level. This amount would represent an annual tax increase of $20 for every $100,000 of a home’s value.
In May, the Sheboygan Area School District surveyed the community to gather feedback on the proposed project. More than 3,300 residents responded to the survey. A majority of all key subgroups support the District pursuing a referendum to address the middle school challenges.
The District used the survey results and feedback from the five community meetings to guide the plan for a referendum in November. The most notable change is the decision to move the Urban Middle School project back to the existing school campus, rather than building at Mill and Najacht Roads.
Like the Farnsworth Middle School plan, the revised plan keeps Urban at its current location and includes major remodeling to a portion of the building and rebuilding a large section of the school. Both plans provide solutions for improved parent drop-off and pick-up, new secure entrances easily accessible from the parking lot, appropriately sized classrooms, more natural light in classrooms and student spaces, and increased parking.
The plan to rebuild and remodel Urban Middle School at its existing location will cost less than the initially proposed plan and lowers the overall referendum amount by $5 million.
The District prioritizes fiscal responsibility and has not placed a referendum question on the ballot since 2016. Updating the two oldest middle school buildings has been part of the District's long-range facility plan for years, and $14 million has been saved to put toward these projects and decrease the overall amount of the referendum.
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