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Middleton leaders present lower-cost plan for fourth elementary, outline May bond timeline
Summary
Superintendent Mark Gee and district consultants presented a schematic design and preliminary $28 million construction estimate for a proposed fourth elementary school, explained why the district says it is needed and described a financing plan that would put about $19.9 million on the ballot in May.
Superintendent Mark Gee told the Middleton School Board that the district is preparing a May bond measure to fund a new fourth elementary school and that the board will need to approve final ballot language in March.
The presentation included a schematic site plan and building design from Amber Van of LKV Architects, a $28 million preliminary construction estimate from ESI (presented by Nathan Nethers), and a financing outline from Piper Sandler (Ken Key and Meri Carrier). Van said, “This is all still just schematic,” and described a single‑story layout with classroom wings, a courtyard, a full‑service cafeteria and a gym sized for a regulation court.
The district says the new school responds to sustained enrollment growth: Mill Creek Elementary is at roughly 113% of capacity and Heights Elementary at about 148% of capacity, with 22 full classrooms housed in portable units across the two schools. Gee said the district is tracking more than 3,000 approved lots within Middleton city and county boundaries and that growth projections drove earlier planning that began in 2015.
Why it matters: district staff said the latest schematic is intended to lower the price compared with an earlier, larger package that failed on prior ballots. The district has committed $8 million from school modernization funds to reduce the voter ask and removed a career and technical education (CTE) building from this bond package after obtaining grant funding for that program separately.
Financial outline: Nethers presented a schematic‑level construction estimate of about $28 million and said contractors and local trade partners were consulted. Ken Key of Piper Sandler presented a financing example that would place $19.9 million in bonds on a 20‑year repayment schedule. Using current assumptions — an interest rate near 3.97% at the time of the presentation and the district’s most recent taxable market value — the example produced an estimated cost of about $34 per $100,000 of taxable value for the proposed bond only. When combined with existing levies and accounting for projected reductions in other bond levies, Piper Sandler projected a district‑wide tax rate that would rise from about $81 to about $96 per $100,000 of taxable value in the year the bond is issued under the scenario shown.
Next steps and community outreach: board members were told there are planned community information meetings on Feb. 25 at Mill Creek Elementary and March 5 at Heights Elementary, both at 6 p.m., and that the board will review draft ballot language in March. Gee emphasized there was no action requested that evening; the session was informational.
Speakers quoted in this article spoke during the bond presentation or Q&A and are listed in the article speaker list.
