Friends For Education FAQ's

Why is the referendum only dealing with the Middle School?
• The Middle School’s safety and security issues are the most urgent and cannot be ignored any longer.
• The electrical wiring is code deficient and a safety issue.
• The entry ways to the building are not secure from outside influences.
• Renovation is needed to comply with legal requirements for handicap accessibility throughout the building.
• The Middle School needs a better traffic flow, and improved safety and security in the commons/cafeteria area.
• Additional parking is needed to improve safety in the current parking lot and to alleviate site congestion.
• Upgrades are necessary to replace outdated mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, and to increase energy efficiency.

What are the Proposed Upgrades?
• A new secure entry way to the building would be added, electrical safety issues would be removed, handicap accessibility would be addressed, and a safe parking lot and bus drop zone would be added to the site.
• The building would be expanded to accommodate the 5th grade which alleviates overcrowding at Prospect Elementary, expands the current 5th grade curriculum and enables the district to remove the portable classroom at Prospect Elementary as legally required.
• The existing building would be reconfigured to improve functionalities, reduce congestion, improve safety and address inadequacy of rooms for music, science, storage, information resources and the cafeteria.
• A new regulation gymnasium area with a flexible design would be added to enhance safety and middle level physical education and health classes as well as expanding the facilities for middle level co-curricular and community use.
• Improvements would be made for sound control in the music and technical education spaces.
• Energy efficient Geothermal technology would be incorporated for purposes of heating the building.

What about the overcrowding problems at Prospect and the security concerns at the High School? Will there be an additional referendum in the following years to address these problems?
• The overcrowding and security issues at the other two buildings are still a concern but the safety and security of the Middle School became the highest priority to our School Board. There will be future referendums to fix issues at the other school buildings, and the board of education will discuss a long range plan in October which they hope to adopt in November.

What are the impacts of moving the 5th graders to the Middle School?
• The 5th grade curriculum will be expanded.

• Overcrowding at Prospect Elementary School will be alleviated. This plan would free up four classrooms for expanding student populations and provide space for Special Education classrooms at Prospect Elementary.

Why did the LMASD choose MIRON as the construction management group without putting out bids for this referendum?
• When looking at the referendum of 2003, construction management firms were interviewed, and MIRON was the company that was chosen. The Board felt that they wanted to stay with this company through this referendum because of their knowledge of our buildings and district. MIRON is a construction management firm and will bid out all of the work for this project. The School Board will be involved in the bid process.

How much does the LMASD spend per student? How does this compare with surrounding school districts? Is this dollar amount limited by the State Government?
• Each year, the State of Wisconsin allocates a certain amount of money to each school district. This money is made up of property taxes, federal funds, state funds and local non-property tax revenue. Since 1994, the State of Wisconsin caps these funds each year and requires districts to receive local referendum approval if additional funds in excess of $1 million are needed.

• The Lake Mills School District focuses the majority of its capped funds on educating our students. While this is the majority of its funds, the graph shows that our district is actually spending well below the state average, and other local districts, in the amount of money spent per child. This information shows that our district focused its limited money on our students while remaining fiscally responsible. While our students continually perform well on standardized tests, our limited funds were not sufficient to meet all our district’s needs and resulted in serious building issues. Additional funding in excess of $1 million is needed to address these issues. These additional funds can only be generated through increased local property taxes which require the LMASD to put a proposal to the community through a referendum.

What is the LMASD going to do with the land at the south end of town?
• The Topel-Untz property on the south end of town was purchased in 1996 through a trust fund loan from the State of Wisconsin which was paid off in 2006. This purchase was not part of a prior referendum. The purchase was approved at an annual meeting and has been part of the LMASD revenue limit ever since its purchase in 1996. This land was paid off in 2006. The land will be part of a future referendum and will either be used for a new elementary school or new outdoor facilities. At this time, it does not make sense to get rid of this land knowing that it may be used in the future.

Why did the LMASD go over budget on the previous referendum that was passed to remodel the High School auditorium and repair the High School parking lot?
• Did we remodel the auditorium and build new? Yes. Did we get 150 more seats and a new facility for about $400,000 more than the cost to remodel? Yes. To make this project happen, the School District made many cuts in order to stay within the referendum amount. However, the Board chose to take out a trust fund loan to finish the project because they felt it was in the district’s best interests. (I will have Wendy send you the information on how many referendums passed, for what and how much was spent on them.)

Is there any association between the LMASD and the City Council that approved the new City Hall Building a number of years ago?
• There is no association between the City of Lake Mills or any town and the District of Lake Mills. The school district is the only entity in the State of Wisconsin - town, city, vocational school system or state - that has to go to referendum when additional funds are needed and the only one that must not spend more than an approved referendum amount.

Why does the LMASD spend such a small amount of the budget on maintenance each year?
• Most of the LMASD budget is spent on instruction of children in comparison to other surrounding districts. Click on the pie chart below to view stats.

What will be done with the existing gymnasium building if the referendum passes?
• The existing gym will still be needed by the school district until this entire project is finished. If the plan passes, the district will have to make decisions regarding this building at a later date. It could be sold, like the old city hall was, or it could be used for community recreation, sold to a health club or torn down.

Will the remodel of the Middle School include geothermal?
• The entire Middle School project includes geothermal. The payback on this should be about 13 years. The cost of electricity will increase to work the system but the use of natural/fossil fuels will go way down. The district believes that we will see a payback on this system sooner than the 13 years.

How will the proposed referendum affect property taxes?
• The Tax Rate projected for this project would be $1.25 per thousand dollars of valuation and will decrease over the term of the bond.
• The average Tax Rate over the twenty year pay back period would be $1.11 per thousand dollars of valuation.
• The Estimated Tax Impact on Property with Fair Market Value of $100,000 would be $125.00 per year or $10.42 per month.
• The Estimated Tax Impact on Property with Fair Market Value of $200,000 would be $250.00 per year or $20.83 per month.

How do the property taxes of the Lake Mills School District residents compare to those of the surrounding districts?

Why can’t our current facilities handle our current curriculum and population?
• The 2007-2008 Kindergarten class is 104 students and the upcoming 2008-2009 Kindergarten class size is expected to be as large. To handle this many students there is a need to have five classrooms for that grade rather than the normal four classrooms. The effect of this is that another grade will need to be reduced down to three classrooms due to the current space constraints at Prospect as was done this school year already.

• During this time period a large number of additional programs have been added to the curriculum with minimal additions to the schools themselves.

How long can the existing portable classroom stay at Prospect to help alleviate the existing overcrowding problem?
• The City granted the district a variance which allowed the district to construct the existing portable. The variance is currently expired. However, the existing portable can stay as long as it is maintained and the City does not seek to enforce the expiration of the variance, which they currently said they will not do. The problem with this portable is that it is not connected to the building and does not house enough students to keep up with our expanding student population.

What is the timeframe for implementation of the proposed referendum?
• Design: November 2008 to April 2009
• Additions: May 2009 to August 2009
• Renovations: June 2009 to August 2009; June 2010 to August 2010

Will the proposed reconstruction of the Middle School include recycling of materials?
• The Middle School project will be a L.E.A.D. Certified project which means that it will use recycled materials and will be as energy efficient as any building built today. We are also not putting the rubble of the building in a land fill because we are remodeling and not building new. The recently replaced windows and roof will remain in tact in the project and not “wasted.”

Is there a correlation between school facilities and student test scores?
• There have been studies done showing that the better the facility the better the test scores. This correlation comes down to perception. If you perceive that you are in a great place, then you will perform like you are. A district member’s former band teacher used to say that “if you look good, you perform well.” Can we prove this? No! Does it make sense? Yes!

How do I get an absentee ballot?
• You can get an absentee ballot through any town or city hall.
• Visit the Friends for Education website www.friends4education.com and you can download an absentee ballot.

Will the LMASD provide updates to the community throughout this multi year project? If so, in what venues?
• The Friends for Education committee will continue to be active throughout the implementation of the referendum to provide updates to community members on the project and to continue to focus on needs within the Lake Mills School District.
• The Lake Mills School District will continue to communicate to the public through a district newsletter and through the LMASD web site.