Oshkosh school board votes to place $197.8 million facilities referendum on April ballot after airport-zoning review

The Oshkosh Area School District board voted Jan. 8 to place a referendum asking voters to authorize up to $197,800,000 in general obligation bonds on the April ballot, after administrators last month identified county airport zoning that would limit building at the district's planned South Park middle‑school site.

Superintendent Doctor Davis told the board the discovery — a Winnebago County update to Whitman Regional Airport zoning adopted in 2023 — made the South Park site unsafe for a new school expansion under the county code and prompted a rapid redesign of the facilities plan. “We do not have a copy of that zoning letter, and that is on us,” Doctor Davis said, acknowledging a breakdown in the district’s internal notice procedures and outlining steps the district will take to avoid a repeat.

The revised plan keeps the overall scope of phase 2 consolidation and upgrades the board has promoted — including a new west‑side middle school, additional elementary capacity and a centralized 4K site — but moves the new middle school to the Shapiro campus, relocates the planned 4K center into Perry Tipler Middle School, and proposes selling the South Park campus and five adjacent lots for residential redevelopment. The board approved the initial bond resolution that will allow the question to appear on the April ballot; the board also discussed schedule risks and cost impacts of delaying the vote.

Why this matters: the recommended adjustments aim to preserve the district’s consolidation savings and the administration’s stated goal of no increase in the district’s tax levy for debt service, while responding to a county zoning restriction administrators say prevents placing a new school in the South Park approach/​departure zone. Davis told the board that waiting a year to pursue the original South Park plan would increase construction costs: the administration estimated about a 5 percent escalation — roughly $4 million on the middle‑school portion and about $10 million for the whole package if delayed one year.

What the board debated

Board members and members of the public spent most of the meeting discussing three topics: the county airport zoning change that affects South Park, the revised site plan that shifts the middle school to Shapiro and the district’s internal communications and due diligence failures that allowed the zoning change to be missed earlier.

Davis described the timeline: a notice about the county zoning was mailed to the district in October 2022 and handled through the district mail process; postings related to the county planning commission appeared in January 2023 but, he said, the district did not have an internal record of the notice and no OASD representative attended the county meeting. After community feedback in September 2024 raised concerns, district and planning staff rechecked zoning and learned that the 2023 code update created a prohibition on new schools in the most constrained airport approach areas.

The district presented four options it considered: remain at South Park and seek a county zoning amendment; remain at South Park and start an amendment while proceeding; move to a different site and wait a year; or move to a different site and keep the referendum schedule. The planning team recommended the fourth option — shift to Shapiro and Tipler while keeping the April timeline — to avoid escalation in construction costs and the uncertainty of relying on a county amendment.

Several board members framed the choice around safety and timing. “We are a students‑first organization,” Doctor Davis said; “we’ll hold ourselves responsible, and move forward on behalf of kids and do what’s right for kids.” Board member Smeltley told the board she believed the alternate plan was preferable: “I actually would like to compliment Doctor Davis and his team for coming up with this plan in such a short amount of time,” she said.

Public comment touched on safety, equity and funding. Mallory Schneider Burschbach, an Oshkosh resident, urged the board to consider accessibility at South Park and the rights of students with disabilities to equitable facilities: “Disabled students deserve equitable access to public education in every capacity,” she said. Other speakers urged clearer public communication about the plan and the airport zoning concern.

Formal action

The board considered and passed the resolution to place the bond referendum on the April ballot. The administration presented draft ballot language and explained statutory constraints on wording; the board discussed the layout and formatting used to help voters understand the question. The board’s recorded roll call and ballot timing discussions show the district must finalize placement by Jan. 21 to appear on an April 2025 ballot; otherwise the next available election would be April 2026.

Next steps and contingencies

If approved by voters the district would proceed with the revised scope: build a new west‑side middle school at Shapiro, relocate the 4K center into Tipler with separated secured entrances, keep many alternate programs in their current locations, and place South Park and adjacent lots on the market for residential redevelopment. District staff also said they will scan and centralize zoning notices, institute twice‑a‑year outreach from the director of facilities to county and city zoning officials, and forward digital copies of all future land‑use notices to the operations team for weekly review.

District officials emphasized that site due diligence — including surveys, borings and detailed environmental checks — typically occurs after a voter authorization; the administration said no phase‑1 borings or full environmental testing have yet been completed for Shapiro but that public databases show no mapped wetlands or immediate contamination indicators on the site. Board member Hess raised concerns about untested methane migration and filled quarries near Quarry Park and asked that such environmental reviews be completed before final construction plans.

What voters will decide

The district provided draft ballot text and supporting bullet points; the resolution approved by the board authorizes placing the question for voter consideration, not construction funding decisions. If voters approve the bond, the district would borrow up to the authorized amount and proceed with the revised construction and consolidation plan. If voters reject the question, administrators said the district would revisit options and that delay could increase projected construction costs.

Ending

Board members were split in their public remarks — several said they planned to vote to place the question before voters, while at least one announced opposition to putting the question on the April ballot because of communication and process failures. The board approved placing the question on the ballot and the administration said it will follow up with the public on the revised plan, additional technical site investigations and a community outreach schedule in the weeks ahead.

Votes at a glance

- Motion: Place a referendum question authorizing issuance of general obligation bonds not to exceed $197,800,000 on the April ballot. Outcome: board approved resolution to place the question on the ballot (roll call taken; transcript records that the resolution carried). Notes: the transcript does not provide a clearly labeled per‑member vote tally attached to a single consolidated roll call in readable form; the board required a Jan. 21 deadline to place the question on the April ballot.