Gresham school showing its age

Gresham Community School has received numerous state and national honors over the last decade for providing quality education to children.

It’s providing the quality education for more than 300 students in some rooms where the temperature is above 80 degrees in warmer months and others where students learn with their coats on in the winter. Some classes learn to musical accompaniment due to their proximity to the band and choir room. Part of the school is out of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

For these reasons and more, Gresham School District officials are asking voters to approve $9.2 million in bonds to replace the three-story section of the school that was built in 1934 and build additional one-story sections for the high school.

If both questions on the April 5 ballot are approved, the tax rate will increase $2.07, from $10.44 to $12.51, per $1,000 of equalized valuation, which equates to $207 more annually for a $100,000 home.

The first question asks for $6 million to demolish the old section of the school and build new high school classrooms on the east side of the building. The money will also fund renovations of several classrooms in the school’s elementary wing.

The second question seeks $3.2 million for an additional gymnasium, track and soccer facilities, and a new community weight room.

Newell Haffner, the school’s assistant principal and junior high/high school science teacher, said district residents requested the items addressed in the second referendum question.

“The public asked us to add a gym. They asked us to add the track,” Haffner said. “They want a community weight room. It wasn’t in the original plan; the original plan was to do the classrooms.”

The referendum has met its share of resistance. At a public information meeting last week, local resident and business owner Dan Huntington said the process seems rushed.

“There’s no doubt that the school is old and needs to be replaced,” Huntington said. “The school is such a huge part of the community, but I think the cart kind of got ahead of the horse.”

After seceding from a joint school district with Shawano in 2007, district officials first considered the possibility of a referendum in 2009, according to Haffner. The decision was delayed until legal issues related to the split were settled in 2011. The School Board in 2014 voted to conduct an assessment of the entire school.

The assessment showed that the district would pay as much for renovating the 1935 section of the building as it would to demolish and build new classrooms. In the process, the school would lose two or three classrooms to bring the facility in compliance with ADA standards.

“People are up in arms right now asking why we’re going to demolish that building,” Haffner said. “We don’t want to knock down the building, but it doesn’t make fiscal sense to keep it either.”

After that assessment was presented to the board, it voted on July 6 to move forward with planning for a referendum. The detail work was completed over several months by an ad hoc committee of school and community representatives, and the two questions were proposed.

“Do we need both? Yes, we need both parts,” Haffner said. “If we wait too long, and the roof caves in, where are we going to put the kids?”

New high school wing

The 1935 section is home mainly to classrooms, for the junior high school, fifth-grade social studies, special education, food education and art, along with an office for the guidance counselor.

Due to an outdated heating and ventilation system, classrooms temperatures can range from the low 60s in winter to 85 degrees in warmer months, according to Haffner.

Hallways, clogged with double-stacked lockers, are so narrow that it is difficult for older students to navigate them between periods.

Equipment is also outdated in many classrooms. Stoves and sinks in the food education classroom were installed in the 1970s.

The music classroom is too small, officials say, and a lack of soundproofing affects adjacent classrooms.

If the first question on the referendum is approved, the three-story building will be replaced with a 2,500 square-foot, single-level area that will serve as the school’s main entrance and house offices for administrators, support staff, the school nurse and the school liaison officer.

“We’re going to make it more secure so that people have to go into the office first,” Haffner said. “It’s not secure right now. I’ve seen parents walk by the office at 10 before 3 to go to the classroom to pick up their kids.”

Fifteen new classrooms would be built east of the existing school, where a parking lot is located. A new parking area will be part of the project.

There is some remodeling included with the $6 million price tag; most of it is in the elementary wing of the school. A classroom in a newer wing of the school will be remodeled to be the new food education classroom.

Community facilities

The school’s gymnasium, with a stage, was built in 1948. It is used by junior high and high school sports teams, gym classes and the drama club. Many times, several groups are using the gym simultaneously, and practices can run as late as 9:30 p.m.

“That gym is booked all the time,” Haffner said.

Years ago, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College provided aerobics classes at the school for senior citizens, but with the gym in such high demand, there is no longer time available for NWTC classes or anyone interested in forming community sports leagues.

“The community doesn’t know this, and it frustrates me,” Haffner said. “‘We don’t need a gym,’ some say, and ‘it costs too much money.’ It’s a huge issue, and some in the community don’t think it’s important enough.”

If the second question, asking voters to approve $3.2 million for community facilities, is approved, a new gymnasium with seating for 700 would be built on the south side of the school, adjacent to the existing gymnasium. New locker rooms would be built, and the existing ones would be renovated and turned into a community fitness center.

The package would include track and soccer facilities, as well.