What's next for the Mukwonago School District in wake of failed $102.3 million referendum?

The Mukwonago Area School District is having to figure out its next steps after a proposed $102.3 million referendum was voted down April 2.

Voters rejected the referendum on a vote of 5,406 to 4,595. If approved, the referendum would have built a new sixth- through eighth-grade middle school and renovated the district's elementary schools to create more space for 4-year-old kindergarten programs. In addition, the referendum would have funded districtwide grade reconfiguration by moving sixth-graders from the elementary schools to the middle school, along with the reconfiguration of Big Bend Elementary School's parking lot and dropoff areas.

In an emailed statement, Mukwonago Area School District superintendent Joe Koch said that in its "many meetings with the community," the district "heard a lot of support for the project but that now might not be the right time."

He also said the district would "re-engage" with the community to re-examine the district's needs, as well as to determine the next steps to meet those needs and ensure that students "have the very best learning opportunities and resources possible."

"Meanwhile, we ask all district stakeholders to stay engaged with our communications via mailers, the website, and social media to remain updated about student achievement, district finances, and facilities needs. We will continue to provide transparency throughout the process," Koch wrote in the statement.

An attempt to reach Koch by phone the afternoon of April 3 was directed by his secretary to Ben Kossow, the district's coordinator of assessment and data. Kossow referred a reporter to Koch's statement and declined a request for a further interview.

Mukwonago School Board member Cheri Winchowky said it was unfortunate the referendum didn't pass, adding, "there will be years of time that we are unable to do what's best for the children."

"We're not going to give up on it because it's a need. It's not a want, it's a need. So we just have to figure out how to do it," Winchowky said in a phone interview April 4. Winchowky lost her seat in Tuesday's election to challenger Eric Schwartz.

Winchowky said the feedback she heard about the referendum from residents was that the district should first pay off the debt from its 2016 referendum that funded renovations, remodeling and improvements to, along with operational and maintenance expenses at, Mukwonago High School.

"I think that it's possible that as we do our research and go from there, the time will pass and possibly then the citizens would be willing to vote for the school that we've proposed," Winchowky said. "My hope is that as we move forward, the costs and interest rates and those kinds of things don't go up and because we didn't do it now, we end up paying more for it later."

Mukwonago School Board member Erika Conner had similar thoughts, saying the middle school "will need something done to it," whether through improvements or building a new school due to the age and cost of the building.

"We believed it to be far more financially wise to start over because we will need to accommodate for a growing community as well as wanting to incorporate sixth grade into the middle school for many educational benefits," she said in an April 4 phone interview. "Our curriculums that you buy, publishers that make books, curriculum, is banded for a sixth- through eighth-grade curriculum. So in order to have a fluid continuity of education, it appears that we need to move to that model and just need to fit people. You know how it works. When you build something from scratch and it's new, you're able to make the wisest use of space.

"However, I understand financially we're living in a world of inflation right now; the community may not have been ready to take on additional financial load. Our high school referendum will be paid significantly earlier in 2027, so maybe the community will be ready to readdress it then," Conner added.

Mukwonago Area School District Director of Business Services Tom Karthausser confirmed in an email that the district estimated the debt from the 2016 referendum would be paid off in 2027.

Conner said another factor into residents voting down the measure could have been local municipalities holding referendums in the last couple years. In November 2022, voters in the village and town of Mukwonago approved two referendums to fund additional positions at the Mukwonago Fire Department.

Conner also said she thought too much time had passed since the district's community survey last fall, which she said had shown support for the referendum. She said the vote did not correspond to the community survey results.

"It pretty much flipped the results," Conner said.

According to the district's October 2023 community survey, 63% of resident respondents said they would definitely or probably support a $102.3 million referendum to build a new middle school and add 4-year-old kindergarten at each traditional elementary school. The actual referendum vote was 54.1% no to just under 46% yes.

Board member Crosby Bugenhagen declined an interview, saying all referendum communications would come from Koch or school board President Dale Porter. Porter referred a reporter to the district website.

Board members Craig Vertz, Jake Heiligenthal, Gayle LeSage, Vito Schwartz and Carolyn Simon, did not immediately respond to phone calls or emails seeking comment.

Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on X (Twitter) at @AlecJohnson12.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mukwonago Area School District figuring out what's next