Altoona is growing!
Proposed Solution
On Tuesday, April 4, 2023, residents of the School District of Altoona will vote on a capital referendum question. If approved, it will allow the district to purchase and renovate the NBI building, while also making improvements to our middle school and high school.
This opportunity came up unexpectedly and created a different approach for creating additional square footage for the middle school and high school. And, this approach would cost less than building a new school. The NBI building is located at 1218 McCann Drive.
Proposed New Grade Configuration
Creating a new school with an NBI purchase and renovation will create at least 21,000 additional square feet to expand our middle school and high school, as fourth and fifth graders will be moved off the main campus. To that end, it will help address our schools’ most urgent space needs while maximizing value for our taxpayers.
Property Tax Impact
An approved $26,000,000 referendum would result in a projected $0.69 increase in the school district's portion of the tax bill for every $1,000 of fair market value.
Ballot Language
The below ballot language will appear on the ballot for residents of the School District of Altoona.
Communication
From now through April 4th, the school district will continue to communicate information to residents to help them make an informed decision at the polls on April 4, 2023. This communication will include in-home mailers, podcasts, newsletter articles, social media posts, and in-person presentations.
Please visit our Facebook page each Friday to view our latest post and video.
Please watch your mailbox for our first home mailer, scheduled to arrive by March 1st.
Informational Videos
Weekly, the district will publish short videos explaining various aspects of the referendum. Check back here every Friday morning (or visit our Facebook page) to view the latest video.
February 17, 2023: Student Enrollment Growth: Will it Continue? (3 mins, 20 sec)
February 24, 2023: The Facilities Study and the solutions that were considered... (6 mins)
March 3, 2023: Unexpected Option to Purchase NBI (3 mins, 41 sec)
March 6, 2023: In-Person Referendum Information Sessions Details
March 10, 2023: School Funding and the Referendum Impact (4 mins, 13 sec)
March 17, 2023: Ballot Language and Finding Your Polling Place (2 mins, 35 sec)
March 23 2023: In-Person Referendum Information Video (25 mins)
March 24, 2023: Middle and High School Long Term Plan (4 mins, 32 sec)
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The School District of Altoona has engaged in a robust process to assess and prioritize its needs, consider various options, and proceed with a solution that meets the current and future needs of our students and community while remaining fiscally responsible.
During the 2021-2022 school year, the School District of Altoona engaged ATS&R Architects to complete a comprehensive long-range facility study.
The district also engaged School Perceptions, a third-party survey firm, to understand the support of the community for a wide range of facility projects and to understand the tax tolerance of the community for a project.
In of 2023, Carol Wirth, President of Wisconsin Public Finance Professionals, met with the school board to review long-range financial trends and opportunities ahead for the district.
These four key inputs informed the decission to pursue an April 2023 referendum question.
Some of the needs that arose included:
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The results of the facility study were presented at a special Board meeting in September of 2022. Click on the link below to access the facility study report. Please note that images of interior maps have been redacted for safety and security purposes.
2022 Long Range Facility Analysis and Educational Adequacy Study Report
As a means of concept examples, ATS&R cost out three potential concepts for addressing space and condition needs. The options included:
OPTION 1: Additions and remodels for the Intermediate School, Middle School, and High School.
Cost: $68-80 million (plus inflation)
Benefits: Addresses current space needs by adding additional square footage.
Challenges: Would need to be broken into phases. Current main campus is land-locked, limitting available space on the current site.
OPTION 2: Addition for the elementary school (making it a K-5 building) to free up space on the main campus to allow for middle school and high school expansion, and remodels of the middle school and high school on the main campus.
Cost: $70 million (plus inflation)
Benefits: Addresses current space needs by adding additional square footage.
Challenges: Would need to be broken into phases. Current elementary school is already larger than the recommended size for an elementary school (300 - 400 students). Adding 4th and 5th grade students would increase the elementary student population to 830 students.
OPTION 3: Construction a new high school and make improvements at the main campus (intermediate and middle schools).
Cost: $105 million (plus inflation)
Benefits: Addresses all current (and likely future) space needs. Creates the opportunity for the high school to be built to support college and career readiness programming. Creates the opportunity for state-of-the-art learning spaces. Creates the opportunity for spaces that could be used by both the school and community: auditorium, field house, outdoor athletics spaces.
Challenges: Highest tax impact, brings the district near to its maximum legal borrowing capacity. High school construction would need to be in one phase which would require the large tax impact. Would result in a 4th grade - 8th grade campus that is bigger than needed. Could prove challenging to find a parcel of 60 acres in the School District boundaries. Oakleaf Stadium would be at the 4th - 8th grade school.
In addition to these concepts tested out by ATS&R, the district considered two additional options:
OPTION 4: Construct a new intermediate school on the elementary parcel of land to free up space on the main campus to allow for middle school and high school expansion.
Cost: Not costed out due to lack of feasibility.
Benefits: Addresses current space needs by adding additional square footage.
Challenges: Not a feasible option because there is not space on the current campus to add a second school. The wooded area is 6 acres, long and narrow. For another lower-level school, 5 acres would be needed. Additionally, with the current parcel of land, the schools would have to accomodate a shared driveway, contributing to futher congestion and backup, which poses a safety concern.
OPTION 5: Add an additional story onto the current high school.
Cost: Not costed out due to lack of feasibility.
Benefits: Addresses current space needs at the high school.
Challenges: The current high school was not constructed to have an additional story built on top. The roof was not contructed in cement and the joists were not constructed to hold the load of an additional story. If we moved forward with the necessary steps to be able to safely add an additional story onto the high school, the top of the current school would need to be taken off to add / reinforce joists that could manage the load of the second story construction and contents. During the time of removal and construction the top of the school would be open to the elements. If the district would decide to take this approach regardless of these factors, we would not expect cost savings as a result and could face the real possibility of spending more than the other options.
The schools are ultimately owned by the community members. To understand community support for a variety of facility projects, as well as the tax tolerance for the projects, a survey of the community was conducted in November of 2022. Although it was expected that the community would not support doing all of the facility projects right away, the survey included the full range of project options from $0 dollars and no projects to $72 million and all projects. All project levels were included so that everyone in the community had the same opportunity to have their views represented.
Community members were asked to communicate their support for the following projects:
- Purchase and remodel of the NBI building, shifting student populations to free up additional space for the middle school and high school.
- Addition and remodel of high school classrooms.
- Remodel of middle school classrooms.
- A high school auditorium and a remodel of high school music rooms.
- An additional gym, fitness center, and Oakleaf Stadium locker room.
- Repurpose of the 4K building into a District Office to provide additional space for middle school and high school expansion.
Through this process, we learned that the community supports purchasing the NBI building, remodeling it, and shifting the student population to free up additional space for the middle school and high school. The next project supported by the community was the addition and remodel of high school classrooms, but there was not tax tolerance to be able to complete both projects in one referendum.
The community indicated they would support the tax impace of a $23 million referendum ($0.69 per $1000 of fair market value), but not the tax impact of a $35 million referendum.
The results of the community survey were presented at a special meeting of the Board of Eduction in December of 2022. Click on the link to view the full Community Survey Results.
Facility needs exceed what can be supported in a single project or referendum. Any additions, repairs, and betterment will need to be done in phases.
In January of 2023, Carol Wirth, President of Wisconsin Public Finance Professionals, met with the board to review the long-range financial trends and opportunities ahead for the district. As a result of this long-term view and planning, the district is able to complete a $26 million referendum project for the tax impact of a $23 million referendum.
Click on the link to view to full Financial Planning and Cash Defeasance Report.
Previously, there was no known written long-range facility plan that articulated a long-term vision for expansion, repair, and betterment. The facilities audit and community survey results were used to inform the development of a long-range facilities plan that includes the expansion and remodel projects that will meet the space and programming needs of the middle school and high school. The district will update the population study and facilities study every five years, and the results will be used to continually update the long-range plan.