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Green Bay School Board looks to hire firm

By Heather Graves
Editor


GREEN BAY – The School Board spent nearly two hours Monday, Dec. 6 focused on the future.

The district is looking to hire a consulting firm to help develop an updated facilities master plan.

Board President Eric Vanden Heuvel said the board’s discussion was a continuation of the conversation from November’s Operations Committee meeting.

The committee determined that a facilities study was necessary.

“They talked about the need for a facilities master plan,” Vanden Heuvel said. “It really gives us an opportunity to take a look at our facilities throughout the district, where we are currently from a financial standpoint and what our plan is going forward.”

Superintendent Steve Murley said a master facilities plan would guide the long-term development and maintenance of the district’s 42 school facilities over the next decade.

The committee recommended working with an outside company as the best option for the district.

Murley said there are multiple reasons to work with an outside company including:

• Expertise in each area of the plan.

• Identification of challenges/opportunities we may not see because we live here.

• Objective analysis of challenges.

• Perspective from work in other districts.

• Provide the ability to expedite the work because the company can focus solely on the plan.

• Serve as a catalyst for change.

Murley said 28 companies downloaded the district’s initial request for proposals.

“We had seven formal responses to that,” he said. “We went through the evaluation process and determined two would best fit the needs of the Green Bay Area Public School District and the community of Green Bay.”

Two companies – BLDD Architects out of Illinois and ATS&R of Minnesota – spent an hour each Dec. 6 pitching to the board for the job.

ATS&R highlighted its work with other Wisconsin districts, including the Weyauwega-Fremont Public School District and the Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District.

BLDD Architects focused on projects it has worked on similar in size and demographics to Green Bay.

A short question and answer portion followed each presentation.

No decision was made by the board.

Trustees will give their feedback to Murley, with further discussion and possible action happening at the board’s meeting, Monday, Dec. 13.

“The purpose of tonight’s meeting is to listen to two separate companies who can assist us with this process,” Vanden Heuvel said. “If you have any specific feedback, we can provide that to the administrative team, or to myself, and then whatever the recommendation is from the board. based on other factors, we will vote on it officially at our meeting next Monday.”

He said the firm chosen will work in collaboration with the district to evaluate the physical condition of all existing school facilities, develop and prioritize options and present recommendations.

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