Rib Lake School Referendum - Aging building systems and equipment in Rib Lake schools

Rib Lake School Referendum

Buildings that are 60 and 40+ years old require significant repairs to ensure our ability to use them for many years to come. Roughly half of the capital maintenance would be in the high school, which was built in 1964, and has a number of components that are still original to the building. Across the district the needs range from electrical, to plumbing and HVAC projects that were not addressed in the 2015 referendum. Although the elementary school is in good overall shape, it is now 25 years old, and a number of its larger HVAC components are beginning to fail as well.

Across the district, classroom lighting is not LED, which leads to higher utility costs each month. Drainage issues exist across the district, which negatively impacts buildings, sidewalks, and parking lots, effectively reducing their lifespan. Converting our lighting to LED and improving our drainage across the district before we replace parking lots will reduce long term maintenance costs for the district. The school district has one main kitchen located in the high school that serves the entire district. This space is original to the 1964 building with the main wooden sided fridge, water boiler, and other components also being original. Around 40% of appliances in the kitchen are dated prior to 1980. The room adjacent to the kitchen that houses the two main walkin freezers for the district is the same room that has the district’s main technology equipment. This includes the district servers, fiber optic cable, and all telecommunications lines that then serve the entire district. The freezers and technology equipment require two very different climates and are working against each other in the current configuration.

Voters in Rib Lake School District are being asked to approve a $19.5 million referendum to address safety, educational and maintenance issues at the Middle and High School buildings.

Community information sessions regarding the upcoming referendum vote were held February 21 at 10 a.m. and at 6 p.m. and an upcoming session will be held on Monday, March 18 at 6 p.m. This will take place in the Rib Lake Middle School library.

Additional referendum information can be found online at: https://www.riblake.k12.wi.us/ district/referendum.cfm.

Over the next several weeks, The Star News will be running photos and information about the issues and concerns that prompted the school board to seek the referendum.