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Monona Grove district previews site plans, traffic fixes as it weighs K–2 consolidation at Cottage Grove School
Summary
Monona Grove School District staff presented three concept plans for consolidating K–2 at Cottage Grove School, proposing changes to pickup/drop‑off circulation, a bus/fire loop and increased on‑site queuing to reduce Main Street congestion; district will vote Dec. 16 on consolidation.
Monona Grove School District Superintendent Tanya Frederick and district facilities staff presented concept site plans to the Village Board on Dec. 1 as the district considers consolidating its K–2 students at Cottage Grove School.
Frederick said the district is projecting a near‑term enrollment decline and that Cottage Grove School "does have the capacity to fit all of our students that would be in Cottage Grove for K–2," leaving room for modest growth. She said consolidation would be on the Monona Grove School Board agenda Dec. 16.
Architects showed three options: the existing pattern (65–74 cars queued, eight buses and about 34 on‑site queue spaces), a preferred option adding a full circulation loop around the school that would accommodate roughly 134–140 cars and 10 buses and a simpler, lower‑cost alternative that increases queuing but does not fully loop the buses. The preferred plan adds a 360‑degree emergency access loop and a gated bus circulation area so buses queue out of sight of the parent drop‑off line.
District staff said the larger option reduces left‑turn conflicts onto Main Street and would cost more—about $300,000 more than the simpler plan—but offers improved safety and full emergency access. "It feels like making the investment that has the safety aspect of it, having that 360 degree access feels like the right move," one district presenter said.
Trustees asked detailed operational questions: how staff would enforce a right‑turn‑only entrance, whether playground access would need fencing, and how families who live north of the school would be routed. Frederick said the district would provide instructional videos, initial police presence at rollout and staff enforcement during the transition; the district projects queuing process time of about eight minutes during peak pickup and drop‑off.
If the board approves consolidation, site plans and traffic impact updates will be required and would return to plan commission and the village board for review of drainage, stormwater and other engineering details. If the school board rejects consolidation, both Cottage Grove and Taylor Prairie would remain as neighborhood K–2 schools with lower capacities per building, Frederick said.
