Construction nearly done at East, Central high schools
Workers put the finishing touches on the renovated library at Brookfield Central High School as the district’s $62 million construction project wraps up. Photo By C.T. Kruger
Aug. 24, 2010 | 4 comments
So what you can get for $60 million?
Students, teachers and parents in the Elmbrook School District are about to find out.
The results of the district's two-year, $62.2 million plan to expand and renovate Central and East high schools will be unveiled when school starts Sept. 1, and officials hope the public shares their enthusiasm with the results.
Construction is wrapping up at the two buildings, and while some minor work will continue through October, the majority of the construction should be finished by the time students return to school.
"We're firing on all cylinders here," East Principal Dan Pavletich said. "Everything's on schedule."
Looks 'brand new'
Pavletich said teachers are scheduled to move into the school today, and the building should be open to students starting Friday. He said there have been "dramatic improvements" to East in recent weeks, and crews have been waxing floors and finishing up some of the bigger tasks at the building.
"It looks like a brand-new school," he said.
Central, which relocated its administrative offices to Wisconsin Hills Middle School for most of the summer, moved back home to its newly refurbished offices on Monday.
"It's an exciting time," Principal Don LaBonte said.
Still, there's a fair amount of work left to be done at the school, LaBonte said, and there will be workers in the building after students return. He said the school should be open to foot traffic by Monday.
LaBonte said students, parents and other visitors will be impressed when they see the renovations that have been done at Central.
"When I go through areas and see the differences, it's really amazing to remember what it was like two years ago," LaBonte said. "It looks much more up to date now."
Just under budget
The district had $62.2 million to work with on the project, and recent projections from C.G. Schmidt showed that the final budget - including construction costs, design costs and contingency funds - will end up with about a $65,000 surplus.
Superintendent Matt Gibson said the renovated schools provide several benefits to students, including handicapped accessibility, increased safety with the addition of surveillance cameras, expanded athletics space and more.
Gibson said he hopes taxpayers who visit the schools during the open houses next month will be satisfied with their "return on investment."
He added that teachers and administrators are pleased with how the project has turned out.
Gibson said he remains grateful to the voters who approved the project.
"It's just a major, major accomplishment the community helped us with," he said.
NEXT STEP
WHAT: Ribbon-cutting ceremonies and community tours at Brookfield Central and Brookfield East high schools
WHEN: Sept. 25; 9 a.m. to noon (East); 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Central)
WHERE: Brookfield East High School, 3305 Lilly Road, and Brookfield Central High School, 16900 W. Gebhardt Road
INFORMATION: Call East's office, (262) 781-3500, or Central's office, (262) 785-3910
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This thing was not about the students, it was about their parents.
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It was always about aesthetics, not education. What goes on in the classroom affects education. I'm pretty sure I don't need to rehash the path to improvements in student performance, but here's a clue; it's not more money and benefits.
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I have to agree that I don't foresee any change in the academic achievement resulting from this spending. A great deal of it was spent on gym facilities, the new facades, in addition to the surveillance cameras and handicapped access. None of these expenditures will improve academic achievement. And there will be a point in time when closing some of these newly built/remodeled schools will be an issue. People aren't having the large numbers of children they used to, that's happening all over the developed world.
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Gibson said he hopes taxpayers who visit the schools during the open houses next month will be satisfied with their "return on investment."
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Back to topSantas Elf - Aug 28, 2010 8:34 PM - Report Abuse
People in this town are preoccupied with having things - ever more expensive things, and with change - continual change just for the sake of change itself.
You can see this in the never ending home makeovers. Back when people were still buying homes, couples ran around looking for the perfect home just so that they could buy it and revamp the whole shebang. And then do it all over again.
And now the public schools have become pawns in that game which never ends. And the deluded taxpayers underwrite it all!
chkursix - Aug 28, 2010 10:07 AM - Report Abuse
WG - Aug 26, 2010 12:12 PM - Report Abuse
intewedm - Aug 26, 2010 11:53 AM - Report Abuse
My understanding is that you make an investment to increase your return, and I'm firmly convinced that education results will not improve as a result of nicer facilities. Let's compare the test scores of the next five years with the past five years and see if I'm wrong.