Spotlight on Shawano Schools

Shawano - The Shawano Board of Education was given some homework, Monday, that may translate to a Spring referendum to pay for facilities maintenance and improvements.

Representatives from Hoffman Planning, Design & Construction, Inc. spent much of the Monday meeting summarizing several months of activity and analysis the group was hired to perform in March. According to a March 27, 2023 Shawano School District press release, the goal of the work is to "help the district develop a long-range facility plan positioning the district to positively address future needs." To that end, Hoffman provided the Board with its assessment of current state and ten proposals to help address the next 20 years of anticipated need, which ranged in estimated cost from $22,866,596 to $115,457,913. The documents Hoffman provided, including its presentation, full facilities assessment and matrix of its recommendations, are available on the Shawano School District website, here.

Hoffman representative Jody Andres, K-12 Market Leader and Senior Project Architect, stressed that no decisions had been made, and that Monday's overview was done to engage the board in the process. "We need some feedback," said Andres.

In addition to providing facilities recommendations, Andres outlined a series of next steps. Specifically, he asked the board to review the large amount of information it provided Monday, including its preliminary findings. Next, he suggested the board get back together in August or September to review and revise the recommendations, and to prepare to engage the public through a survey. According to Andres, the primary purpose of the survey would be to inform and educate, so the public could make an informed decision.

After gathering and reviewing survey responses, the district would be able to craft and act upon a board resolution calling for an election on any proposed borrowing. A resolution adopted by January 2024 could result in referendum during the Spring 2024 election.

According to Andres, the methodology for arriving at the recommendations included an evaluation of current state of facilities, staff and student interviews, community listening sessions and an analysis of educational adequacy. The concept of educational adequacy included consideration the amount of space, flexibility, and appropriateness of furnishings and equipment.

As part of its evaluation of current state, Hoffman prioritized the maintenance needs of each facility from 1 to 4, with "1" being those items that should be addressed within the next year, and "4" being those items that should be addressed within 10 to 20 years. That range accounted for much of the variability in the cost of recommendations. For instance, seven of the ten recommendations fell within the range of $22,866,596 to $67,894,007, which, generally, corresponds with the difference between the total for Priority 1 maintenance items ($17,827.811), and the total for all maintenance items ($57,295,502). The three recommendations with the highest price tags ($107,279,355 - $115,457,913) contemplate replacement of the Middle School.

Additional items identified within each recommendation relate to themes identified through Hoffman's fact gathering. Some of these included a desire for enhanced Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, improved performing arts and athletic facilities, new technology, proper room sizes, and community child care.