The Manitowoc Public School District will ask the voters for help making immediate repairs to all district schools.
The school board voted 5-2 last week to approve putting a $25 million referendum for the next election in 2025.
The money would be used for necessary school repairs, such as tuckpointing, plumbing work, and generator and lighting replacement.
The referendum would have included repairs to the high school baseball field.
Still, the board voted 5-2 to move $900,000 in funding out of the repairs because, according to Board Member Biff Hansen, he wants to see what happens with money already raised for improvements.
Interim Superintendent Lee Thennes warned the board that the list of fixes might need to be amended because the funding for projects has changed.
“There will be things that supersede things on this list, I can just about guarantee it,” he stated. “And I just don’t want to send the wrong message to the public that from time to time we won’t have to reassess this particular list over the next couple of years.”
The board voted to return the $900,000 to another fund in case issues arise.
Board Member Tony Vlastelica said the motion made sense.
“This is really just saying, here’s the dollar amount we are requesting, which is $25 million,” he explained. “We already have a $48 million (in immediate needs) identified. You know, it’s not like we have a $10 million and we’re asking for $25 million. We have a $48 million need and we’re asking for $25 million.”
After other minor amendments, such as accepting the project list as an official guide, Board President Chris Able explained that he wouldn’t vote for the referendum because he thought the district was asking to borrow too much.
He says there were two reasons he wanted to be able to do more work and borrow less.
“One, it builds credibility with the public,” he said. “Here’s all the stuff we have to do. We’re borrowing for not enough to do all of it. Second, I believe profoundly, in the craftsmen, the builders, the construction people, who support and love our public schools.”
The referendum is part of the district’s facilities plan to update and repair schools throughout the district.
CESA 10, a group that worked with the district to create the plan, explained that $161 million in total repairs are needed throughout Manitowoc Public Schools.
The rest of the repairs could be put into other referendums over the next few years.
