MMSD staff present schematic progress on referendum schools, highlight growth, community input and tariff risk

Scott, a district project lead, told the Madison Metropolitan School District’s Operations Work Group on April 21 that the referendum program is on schedule through schematic design and that staff have begun a 50% schematic-design review for Phase 1 schools. He said design work is incorporating curriculum needs and community use of school spaces, and that construction documents will be refined with price checkpoints as designs advance.

The district emphasized community engagement as a major design input. Scott and other staff described public sessions, door‑to‑door outreach around Sherman Middle School and Shabazz High School, student poster presentations at Seneca (referred to as “Senate” in materials) and hands‑on workshops at Sherman and Shabazz. Scott said students asked for flexible learning spaces, more daylight, privacy and inclusive design for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. “They brought some amazing things up about folks that are deaf and hard of hearing. How do we have visual things and on lights?” he told the group.

Cindy, a district staff member leading enrollment and program work, said the district plans to expand some specialty enrollments: Shabazz’s enrollment goal is to grow from about 115–120 students now to roughly 150 with a new building. The presentation included a district planning map showing pockets of housing growth and a projection that, relative to prereferendum assumptions, the district is about 270 projected students higher in capacity need across the Phase 1 project area. Scott gave school‑level projected increases of 34 students at Sherman and 29 at Shabazz over a 15‑year horizon.

Board members pressed staff about shared staffing, capacity and curriculum. Board Member Mulgrew asked whether the two schools colocated in a combined facility could share staff; staff answered certification and program differences limit sharing of classroom teachers but some support and specialized roles could be shared. Mulgrew also urged staff to include Hamilton and O'Keeffe middle schools in growth projections for a fuller district picture; staff replied Hamilton shows little room to expand and will require alternative solutions if additional students arrive.

Board Member Muldrow asked how the district is accounting for tariffs and market volatility. Scott said staff are working with construction managers to price‑check designs frequently, identify materials at risk and, where prudent, buy in bulk and store materials to lock current prices. “We will go buy it now have commonality and use the buying power that we will have, and then store it,” Scott said.

Staff described sustainability and resilience planning. Scott said geothermal is being planned for all referendum schools where feasible and that the district is coordinating with Madison Gas & Electric on electrification, redundancy and FEMA‑rated priorities. Architects and project staff said they are designing flexible lab and CTE (career and technical education) spaces, community‑accessible performance areas and site designs that limit tree removal, include green space and consider storm‑water retention and rain gardens.

Nut graf: The district presented evolving 50% schematic designs for Phase 1 referendum schools, emphasizing student and neighborhood input, flexible learning and sustainability while acknowledging cost risks from tariffs and supply constraints; trustees asked for tighter enrollment modeling and clearer planning for shared services and future adaptability.

In discussion, trustees recommended deeper instructional guidance to augment student ideas with “best practice” design choices. Muldrow urged the projects to preserve arts, theater and dance spaces and to reuse previously purchased materials where appropriate. Several trustees asked for continued transparency to families and staff as designs change.

Staff said next steps include further public input in September, a fall set of design checkpoints and a construction design criteria package targeted for early November. Scott said the team will continue outreach tools including Mentimeter surveys and additional school‑level workshops to validate programming and circulation plans. He also said the district is setting mechanical and utility locations on Phase 1 sites so future expansions would be easier and less costly.

Ending: Staff scheduled a May 2 internal bus tour of development sites and said they will return to the board with updated designs and pricing checkpoints as schematic design proceeds.