(Published Wednesday, June 13, 2007 11:48:58 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Brian Reisinger Gazette staff
Not all school board members agree on how close spending to renovate Janesville's two high schools should get to the $70.8 million voters approved last November.
Early projections place Craig's renovation, which will add 110,000 square feet to the school, at nearly $31.9 million. Parker's revamp, which includes 153,000 square feet of new space, seems likely to cost nearly $38.9 million.
Overall, the project is on target or under the money approved by the referendum, said Bob Klaas, senior project manager with J.P. Cullen & Sons, which prepared the numbers.
Klaas and others presented the plans to the buildings and grounds/finance committee Tuesday. The layout of both high schools will be changed, and both will get various new facilities, including classrooms, areas for special departments, cafeterias and gymnasiums.
Listen to the update on high school renovations given to the school board
Disagreement among board members at the committee meeting carried over into the board's meeting later Tuesday.
Board member Tim Cullen said he's not comfortable seeing the costs so close to the referendum amount.
"What's happened here is that the taxpayer ceiling has become a floor," he said at the committee meeting, adding that spending less could give the board the "moral high ground" in pursuing future referendums.
He suggested the district have designers shoot for a smaller amount. Superintendent Tom Evert said the district might have to seek legal advice on whether board members can plan to set a lower spending target following a referendum.
Other board members disagreed with Cullen, both at the committee and board meetings, saying that the plans seen Tuesday reflect accurately what they had hoped for.
"We've gone through this process for a number of years," board member DuWayne Severson said.
All board members who spoke agreed they'd like to spend less money than anticipated and that savings should go back to taxpayers.
Though the estimates are preliminary, Klaas said scaling back spending, as Cullen suggested, would shrink the renovation projects at both schools.
"If we're to be able to meet program needs, this is the right dollar amount," he said.
Doug Bunton, director of business services, told the board he was comfortable with the financial status of the projects, saying the numbers would become more concrete as the projects moved forward.
There is at least one possible additional expense that could arise in the coming days-environmental regulations of the improved high schools. Bunton is waiting to hear from the Department of Natural Resources to see if it will consider the improved buildings as renovated or new.
If classified as new facilities, the high schools would be subject to additional regulations for such issues as water runoff. Bunton was unsure whether that possibility would put the projects over the amount taxpayers approved last year.
Though much of the board seemed comfortable with the numbers at this point, board member Amy Rashkin said she is awaiting more specifics.
"We've got a bunch of guesstimates to look at," she said.
Timeline
The Janesville School District will begin restructuring parking lots at Craig and Parker high schools this summer to prepare for future renovation.
Bidding for the renovations will begin in September, with groundbreaking in November.
Additions to the schools will continue through the next two school years, with renovations to major classrooms in summer 2008 and summer 2009.
The district anticipates completing renovation at both schools in Sept. 2009.
