Belleville School Board Poised to Vote on November Referendum Question
Vote follows 'inclusive and transparent process'; proposal 'balances the needs of our students with taxpayers'
Share
Tweet
Sue Moen
The Belleville School Board will vote whether or not to place a capital referendum question on the November Ballot at a Special Board meeting on August 16th. This would be the Belleville School District's first referendum in nearly 20 years. Included in the recommendations of the Ad-Hoc Educational and Facilities Planning is closing the Elementary School, and expanding the Intermediate School.
Building on the work of its Ad-Hoc Educational and Facilities Planning Committee, the Belleville School Board will vote to place a capital referendum question on the November ballot at a Special Board Meeting on August 16th. It will be the district's first referendum in nearly 20 years.
The Ad-Hoc Educational and Facilities Planning, which was open to all community members, first convened last fall and met monthly over the school year to prioritize the district's needs, consider the district's financial situation, review options presented by the district's architect and conduct a community survey. The committee included nearly 50 participants, including district residents, staff, retired staff, parents, non-parents, business representatives and students. Representatives of the committee presented the group's final report to the board June 29th.
In the final report, the committee recommended closing the elementary school, which is currently the educational home to students in pre-kindergarten to first grade, renovating and expanding the intermediate school for pre-K to sixth grade, making minor renovations to accommodate a secure entry at the high school and making some site improvements to improve traffic flow. The total cost of the solution presented by the committee to the board is $19,780,000. It would have an annual taxpayer impact of less than $100 per $100,000 of assessed property value.
The committee's report and presentation may be found on the district's website at http://www.belleville.k12.wi.us/district/presentations.cfm. The referendum proposal, on which the board will vote to place on the November 8 ballot, will mirror the recommendations the committee made.
"An enormous amount of work has gone into the referendum question that board members will vote on during our August 16th meeting," said Angela Edge, Board President. "We appreciate all of the work by Belleville School District residents over the last several years to get us to this point. The proposal the board will vote on is based on an inclusive and transparent process, and it balances the needs of our students with those of taxpayers. If passed by voters in November, it will have a huge, positive impact on our schools, our community and, most importantly, our children."
Community members are always encouraged to attend school board meetings. The August 16th meeting will be held in the High School Library at 7:00 p.m.
Additional information related to the Ad-Hoc Educational and Facilities Planning Committee-including links to all agendas, presentations and reports-may be found on the district's website, at http://www.belleville.k12.wi.us. Click on Educational and Facilities Planning, located under the District tab, to learn more.
