VOTE “YES” FOR OUR CHILDREN’S AND COMMUNITY’S FUTURE

  • Students at their desks

Tuesday, April 7th, voters in the Wausau School District get a chance to approve some much needed repairs and upgrades for our children in the Wausau School District. As a result of four years of community involvement and planning, two referendum questions will be on the ballot.

Question #1* allows the school district to raise money for needed maintenance and neighborhood school building renovations. The bond money will be used to:

  • Provide additional space for students at overcrowded John Marshal, Rib Mountain, Hewitt-Texas, and South Mountain elementary schools,
  • Replace the deteriorating A. C. Kiefer Educational Center in 2016. The Center currently houses the district’s four-year-old Kindergarten (4K) program. It will cost too much to renovate the building.
  • Expand G. D. Jones, Hawthorn Hills, Riverview and Thomas Jefferson elementary schools to:

1.  house four, regional 4K Learning Academies which will support a better program for our four-year-old students,

2.  add instructional space for elementary students (K-5) where necessary, and

3.  make necessary renovations to cafeteria facilities, at G. D. Jones and Thomas Jefferson.

  • Expand East High to add space for their Automotive Program and Manufacturing Lab as well as remodel their Graphics, Woods and Metals instructional areas.
  • Add Manufacturing, Metals, Woods and Agriculture space to West High while remodeling their Graphics, Metals, Robotics and Broadcast instructional areas.
  • A small amount will be spent on District-wide maintenance and building needs and the demolition of the old A. C. Kiefer building if it can’t be sold.

The building and site renovations are to be ready for use by the beginning of the 2016-17 school year.

John Marshal Elementary

Question #2** allows our school district to temporarily go above their state imposed revenue limit by $2 million for five years to fund the District’s Technology Plan. This additional money would start with the 2015-16 school budget and end after the 2019-20 school year.

The District’s Technology Plan will focus this money in three areas:

  1. Take the next step toward our goal of having computers/tablets available for all students on a daily basis and providing training for teachers and aides so they can support student use.
  2. Updating and improving our school district’s telephones, and computer system. Much of the current equipment is no longer made and parts and service are no longer available.
  3. Enlarging the data bandwidth for our District’s wide area network (WAN). This is required to handle the increased data flow from students and teachers using computers and tablets use in their daily classwork. These devices require more data flow than the current bandwidth can provide.

 

Wausau School District’s Ballot Questions

As They Will Appear on the Ballot April 7, 2015:

*WAUSAU SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENDUM – QUESTION 1

Shall the Wausau School District, Marathon County, Wisconsin be authorized to issue pursuant to Chapter 67 of the Wisconsin Statutes, general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $29,565,000 for the public purpose of paying the cost of: capital maintenance projects throughout the District; constructing additions to and making related facility renovations and site improvements (including play area, athletic field and parking improvements) at G.D. Jones Elementary School, Hawthorn Hills Elementary School, Riverview Elementary School, Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, Wausau East High School and Wausau West High School; demolition of A.C. Kiefer Educational Center and restoration of the related site; and acquiring related fixtures, furnishings and equipment? YES _____ NO _____

  

**WAUSAU SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENDUM – QUESTION 2

Shall the Wausau School District, Marathon County, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes by $2,000,000 per year for a period of five years on a non-recurring basis beginning with the 2015-2016 school year and ending with the 2019-2020 school year, for the purpose of funding the District-approved technology plan? YES _____ NO _____