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Merton School Board Given Expansion Recommendations; Task Force Presents 2 Plans for Expected Growth in Enrollment

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 September 2005, 15:00 CDT

Merton A task force examining how the School District should handle future growth has recommended building a new school on a separate site while the School Board pursues the possibility of merging with another school district.

The final report of the New School Planning Task Force was presented to the Merton School Board at its meeting Monday.

It recommended that when enrollment surges, the district build either a third-through-fifth-grade school or a kindergarten-through- eighth-grade building on a 37.2 acre plot purchased in 2001 in Lisbon.

"One of the goals of the group was to respond to the needs of the district but do it in a way that minimizes the impact to the taxpayers," said Bruce Marne, a principal managing partner with Eppstein Uhen Architects, which was hired to help the task force.

"Lots of times you have groups that put together pretty elaborate, extravagant plans, and this group did not do this," he said.

In recommending the 3-5 and K-8 buildings, the task force rejected:

-- Creating a new high school district or dividing into two school districts, which it identified as not being viable under state law.

-- Building a kindergarten-through-second-grade school or a sixth- through-eighth-grade middle school at the Lisbon site, both of which would be costly and require renovations to existing buildings.

The committee also eliminated the option of building onto existing facilities, questioning whether the current campus could manage more students and the accompanying traffic.

The New School Planning Task Force was formed in September 2004 to recommend solutions to the School Board in handling expected enrollment growth. Eppstein Uhen has projected that enrollment could reach 1,650 in the next 10 to 20 years.

The district has enrolled 867 students who live within district boundaries for the 2005-'06 school year.

About 50 people served on the task force, although only about 30 consistently attended meetings, Merton Superintendent Mark Flynn said. Members included administrators, teachers, support staff, community members, board members and parents.

While the task force helped narrow the district's options, it was not explicit about when the district should act.

Flynn said current district facilities include six empty rooms that could absorb about 120 more students.

He also pointed out that the number of students enrolled from within the district was down from the 2004-'05 school year by two students at Friday's official enrollment count. "So, even with all the development out here, it has not manifested itself in a boom in enrollment," Flynn said.

But, with a number of emerging subdivisions on the planning books and more land available for development, district officials have said they could outgrow existing facilities in four years.

District merger discussed

While the task force confined its discussions largely to possible building plans, the School Board also has been talking to the neighboring North Lake School Board about a possible merger of their two school districts.

Marne said the task force did not issue a recommendation on merging because it involved too many political questions, instead referring it to the School Board to pursue.

North Lake officials have estimated that they could have as many as 12 open classrooms to offer to the arrangement.

But some North Lake parents have spoken against the proposal, afraid of how it would affect the climate in their 360-student school.

Instead, they suggested part of the Merton Community School District be detached and joined to North Lake.

The Merton School Board has determined that detachment would not be in the financial interests of the district, Flynn said.

He acknowledged that, while the Merton School Board remains interested, a merger with North Lake seems unlikely.

"Both districts individually would have to be interested in doing it, and I just don't see that happening right now," Flynn said.

Copyright 2005, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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