Friday, September 20, 2024
DE PERE — The Unified School District of De Pere (USDDP) will hold in-person and online listening sessions about the Nov. 5 ballot referendum.
The district will ask voters for $22 million for critical maintenance, safety and security upgrades at all six schools in the district.
The $22 million includes $3.9 million for safety and security measures; $10.24 million for infrastructure upgrades; and $7.9 million for site repairs and improvements
It includes things like replacing asphalt for parking lots and playgrounds; roofing, flooring and insulation replacement; and emergency communication equipment, fire alarms and generators.
It doesn’t include new construction or additions to buildings.
Session times
Wednesday, Oct. 2, at 6 p.m. at Heritage Elementary School
Thursday, Oct. 3, at 7 a.m. via Google Meet
Friday, Oct. 4, at noon via Google Meet
Weds. Oct. 9, at 6 p.m. at Dickinson Elementary School
Thurs. Oct. 10, at noon via Google Meet
Thurs. Oct. 17, at 6 p.m. at Altmayer Elementary School
The district’s website has a link to Google Meet, as well as a property tax impact calculator that allows residents of the district to input their home’s estimated value to determine how the referendum would affect their property taxes.
A person with a home valued at $150,000 would see their property taxes increase $5 a month, or $60 per year.
Land in Ledgeview
Superintendent Chris Thompson said the district won’t think about what to do with property it owns in Ledgeview until 2025.
The district bought the 23.2-acre property at 2900 Dickinson Road in 2001 for $301,000.
A local appraiser a recently valued the district’s parcel at $695,000.
It’s currently zoned institutional. The surrounding properties are zoned residential.
“The District is not making any decisions regarding retaining or selling the Bower Creek property for the time being,” Thompson said, defining time being as eight to 12 months.
Ledgeview Village Administrator Sarah Burdette presented the school board with a map of the future Angel Ridge subdivision that she said a developer wants to build on adjacent property.
It’s just west of the district’s land.
She told the board that the village wanted to be on the same page with the district.
A few ways the district’s use of the property would affect surrounding properties include access to the property, road frontage, traffic circulation, and busing, she said.
The potential subdivision would be on land currently owned by Sharon and Steve Danen.
It would feature 17 single-family lots and a cul-de-sac.
Thompson said the district needs to do a traffic study of Chicago and Merrill streets and Dickinson and Swan roads.
Then the community facilities task force would look at the information and update its 2023 recommendations, if necessary.
A year ago, the task force recommended that the district consider building a new high school and reconfiguring the way other buildings would be used.
Other business
In other business, the board approved:
• New refrigeration and freezer units to replace old and failing units at Altmayer, Dickinson, Heritage, and De Pere Middle schools, totaling $156,221.
• A ball field mower for the district’s baseball, softball, soccer and practice fields, which total between 25 and 30 acres, for $43,081;
• A new divider curtain for the middle school gymnasium for about $18,000.
• Commissioning a survey of students, staff, parents, and community members regarding wellness screening and cell phones, for $15,000.
