Sheboygan Area School District previews Farnsworth, Urban and Irvin middle‑school designs; board to weigh geothermal, solar

The Sheboygan Area School District Committee of the Whole received a preliminary update on designs and budget considerations for the Farnsworth, Urban and Irvin middle‑school projects during a committee meeting that included schematic floor plans, parking and turf proposals, and early cost questions.

District staff said the presentation was intentionally tentative and that a fuller presentation, including bid results, will return to the board in May. The update covered interior layouts, classroom sizes, parking, a proposed turf field at Farnsworth, accessibility and multiuse design at Urban, and expanded special‑services space including sensory rooms. Staff also reported they are investigating geothermal and solar as possible additions but said those systems were not included in the original referendum budget and would require a later board funding decision.

At Farnsworth, the schematic shown emphasized a central gymnasium and cafeteria, classrooms grouped for team or content organization, collaborative "resource" areas adjacent to classrooms, sliding partitions to combine or separate rooms, first‑floor science labs with outdoor access, and nearly universal natural light. Staff said the site plan includes nearly 100 parking spaces and a smaller turf soccer field intended to accommodate youth (described in the meeting as a U‑10 field) that district staff said could also benefit South High practice needs. "You'll get a general concept of what the floor plans will look like," a district presenter said while showing the Farnsworth interior schematic.

Urban's plan preserves the building's front courtyard and historic library features (staff said the fireplace will be retained) while adding a second gym and a cafeteria and more than doubling available parking by adding a new lot to the north; presenters estimated roughly 87–90 spaces in the new layout versus about 70 now. Staff said the design allows event‑use access to gyms and cafeterias without opening the full building. Irvin's schematic follows the same stacked layout approach but was described as "a little more cramped" for collaborative learning, and staff said they will continue refining those spaces.

Staff described engagement with teachers and specialists through two concurrent groups: a design team (primarily administration and buildings/grounds) and user groups of teachers and related service providers. Rachel, a district staff member who led user‑group engagement, said the district has completed a first round of sessions and plans three to four rounds total to refine instructional needs. She said about 30 staff also toured two recently built middle schools (sites named in the meeting as Oshkosh's Belar Phillips and Muskego Lakes in Muskego) to observe functioning collaborative spaces and specialty rooms.

Responding to questions about capacity, presenters said classrooms will be larger than current rooms: staff described "classrooms as high as 30‑plus" for seating capacity and said planned classroom footprints will increase to about 900 square feet from what they described as roughly 600–700 square feet currently. Staff said the additional collaborative spaces, tech bars and small‑group instructional rooms will add functional capacity beyond traditional classroom counts.

Security and visibility were discussed: presenters said they consulted school resource officers and Sheboygan Police Department representatives on interior glazing and sight lines. "Some teachers like a lot of glass, some think it's a fishbowl," a presenter said; staff described a compromise of "strategic interior windows" to balance supervision and instructional focus.

Special‑services and amenities were highlighted: both Farnsworth and Urban will include sensory rooms, unified "legacy" and "unity" rooms intended for student activities or community rentals, and dedicated spaces for physical and occupational therapy. Staff cited research‑like benefits from sensory rooms for reducing restraint and isolation and said the new layouts aim to support educating more students in general‑education settings.

On finance, Mark, a district finance staff member, said the district is currently paying percentage billing to the design contractor and will have a clearer financial picture once construction bids open. He said geothermal and solar are under study by an engineering firm to test viability, cost and payback; those systems were not part of the referendum baseline. "If the payback looks good and the board decides we want to follow through on that, we'd have to look at how we're going to fund that," he said, noting available options include a designated fund balance for future building projects and investment income from bond proceeds generated during the project.

Board members asked about contingency for rising materials costs and the risk tariffs could pose to steel prices; staff acknowledged a contingency exists in the budget but said larger increases could require adjustments or, in extreme cases, delaying work. Staff gave a rough schedule note that turnover of the buildings is expected in about a year, and they committed to returning with bid results and a formal May presentation before any final funding decisions.

Votes at a glance: the committee approved the meeting agenda by voice vote and later adopted a motion to adjourn; both were routine procedural actions recorded without a roll‑call tally.

The district will continue user‑group work, refine exteriors before a wider community launch, and return to the board with detailed bid comparisons and formal funding recommendations later in the process.