The Shawano School Board signed off Nov. 17 on additional referendum work to the tune of more than $2.7 million after it was reported that most of the bids for projects approved by voters one year ago came in under budget.
The work approved is already being done in some form or fashion through the referendum project, but having funds left over from the $51.2 million approved means that the district will be able to do more improvements, according to Kurt Krizan, Shawano School District superintendent.
Included in the $2.7 million approved are:
• Additional door replacements at Shawano Community High School (75% of the doors were part of the referendum scope), as well as card reader access for staff at all four schools.
• Classroom furniture at all four schools.
• New playground equipment at Hillcrest Primary School.
• Maintenance to the tennis courts next to Shawano Community Middle School, which are used by the high school tennis teams.
• Additional classroom technology at all the schools.
• More cameras and security systems.
• Upgrades to clocks and speakers at SCMS, Hillcrest and Olga Brener Intermediate School. SCHS clocks and speakers have already been upgraded.
• Upgrades to the fire alarm and notifications at Olga Brener.
Krizan said that bid results for referendum work have come in at lower levels in some cases due to current material prices, construction costs and market conditions. He noted the additional improvements will not impact the existing construction schedule.
If the bids for these projects also come in below cost, it’s possible more alternate priorities could receive funding, if the school board approves, according to Krizan. He told the school board that the projects are maintenance needs and not new projects, because they would be outside the scope of what the district presented to voters in 2024.
Board President Tim Renard, who also sits on the referendum project committee, said there’s no concern about whether the additional maintenance work can be done.
“We are certain we can fund these and still not impact the referendum,” Renard said. “It’s not, ‘Do we or don’t we have the money?’”
Board member Bobbi Lemerond, another committee member, said the projects being approved were listed as top priorities when referendum planning was being done a year ago.
“If the bids had come in higher, the least important projects would have come off, and we’d have to deal with them later,” Lemerond said. “We have a budget where we can approve the priority ones.”
Board member Jeana Winslow expressed concern about approving the additional work now, as referendum work is being done in phases. She questioned if the district was painting itself into a corner if future bids for original work come in higher than what was estimated.
Krizan noted that 98% of the original work has already been bid out, so it’s improbable that the remaining bids would cut deeply into the $2.7 million saved. He added that a contingency fund was included when approving the original referendum work, so that would help address future bids that could come in higher.
“This (project list) is not touching any of the contingencies yet,” Krizan said. “We can take advantage of some savings with these projects. If we have a company here doing 75% of the doors, we get a better price if we order the other 25%, and we have the labor here already.”
Some of the items approved by the board were originally part of the 2025-26 budget approved by the board in October, which had an almost $1 million deficit that officials planned to use general fund money to cover. Renard said that, with the cost savings from the referendum, the general fund will not have to be tapped as much to pay for district expenses.
“That’s why we’re in a more confident position right now,” Renard said. “We’ll be able to take that and shrink it down, because we’re using referendum funds to pay for it and be able to preserve our general fund.”
The financial situation today is a far cry from almost 30 years ago when the current high school was built, and the district cut corners from what was promised. Some of those fixes were what was approved in the November 2024 referendum.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
