The Sheboygan Area School District has a long history of being fiscally responsible and has taken excellent care of our school facilities. However, Farnsworth and Urban Middle Schools were built in the 1930s and are now approaching the time when these schools need extensive repairs and/or upgrades. As outlined below, much work has been done to evaluate the needs of these buildings over the last several years.
Urban (original section built in 1937) and Farnsworth (original section built in 1930) middle schools have similar facility challenges:
July 23, 2024 - Board of Education Meeting
At the July 23 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 on their existing sites, 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.
June 25, 2024 - Board of Education Meeting
The referendum community survey results were presented at the June 25 Board of Education meeting.
A majority of all key subgroups support the District pursuing a referendum to address the middle school challenges. However, parents, SASD staff, and community members living in the Urban Middle School attendance area were less supportive of the proposed plan than respondents living in the Farnsworth or Horace Mann attendance areas.
- View the Report of SASD Referendum Community Survey: Referendum Survey Results
Based on the survey results and feedback from the community meetings, Bray Architects presented a potential plan to the Board of Education to rebuild Urban Middle School at its current location.
- View the potential plan to re-built Urban on it's current site: Potential Plan for Urban on Current Site
May 16, 2024 - Mill Road Crash & Safety Analysis
May 6, 2024 - Traffic Impact Analysis for Urban Middle School
View the presentation shared by Traffic Analysis & Design, Inc. at the community meeting: Urban Middle School Presentation 05062024
Linked below is the full report and the additional data used in the study:
May 3, 2024
Surveys were mailed to all SASD residents to gather input. In order to keep all feedback confidential, survey responses were collected by School Perceptions, an independent education research firm.
February 2024
View the slides from the Community Presentations:
SASD Community Presentation Feb 29
January 2024
The Board of Education gave preliminary approval to purchase property located at the intersection of Mill and Najacht Roads in Sheboygan. This parcel of land would be used for the potential rebuilding of Urban Middle School. The funds used to purchase the property will come out of the $2 million fund balance designated for future land purchases. This preliminary approval will be returned to the Board for final approval later this spring.
The original recommendation from the Citizen's Advisory Committee was to rebuild Urban Middle School on a new site. As the District worked through due diligence on donated property located on North 15th Street, it became apparent that this land was not the best solution - due to the placement of wetlands, the water table, and the constraints on where a building could be placed on the property. This site is also not ideal because it is next to industrial properties.
The property located at Mill and Najacht Roads is 19 acres larger and has the potential for a better site layout and room for expansion in future generations. This parcel of land is within the current Urban Middle School boundary and is about 1.5 miles from the current Urban building.
November 2023
The Board of Education approved a construction delivery approach to hire a contract manager(s) to oversee the potential 2024 referendum projects. View the full presentation to the Board starting on page 14 of the November 28, 2023, Board of Education agenda and meeting attachments.
Timeline for Construction Delivery Approach:
January 2023
Should a new Urban Middle School be built on a new site, the Board of Education approved a recommendation to raze the current Urban Middle School site and create both parking and green space for the North High School campus. The recommendation came out of meetings the administration had with North High School stakeholders.
July 2022
Preliminary schedules presented to the Board of Education.
May 2022
Members of the Citizens Facility Advisory Committee shared their recommendations for Farnsworth and Urban Middle Schools with the Board of Education for their consideration. The recommendation included:
Read the executive summary and decision-making matrix used by the committee:
The Board of Education approved the committee’s recommendation and will consider pursuing a referendum in November 2024 for these projects.
March 2021
Citizens Facility Advisory Committee convened and began their work.
March 2020
The Board of Education approved the formation of a Citizens Advisory Committee to review the facility needs of Farnsworth Middle School and Urban Middle School.
Check back for further updates! 