Waunakee board adopts E4E plan, approves $1M capital maintenance and funds summer high‑school projects

The Waunakee Community School District Board on March 9 adopted an updated education‑for‑employment plan and signed off on a slate of capital spending and summer construction work at the high school.

Trustees voted to adopt the district's E4E plan, a state‑required education‑to‑employment framework intended to strengthen career and technical education while keeping college pathways intact. Tim, who outlined the plan, told the board the goal is a visually accessible public plan that balances college preparation with career readiness and will include a community‑reviewed "portrait of a graduate." After committee briefings and questions from trustees, the board approved the plan on a voice vote.

The board also approved a $1 million capital maintenance budget for 2026–27 and adopted a policy to require board review for all capital maintenance projects costing $25,000 or more. Facilities leaders said that change implements existing board policy and will speed approvals by allowing staff to execute smaller items while reserving large purchases for trustees' review.

Facilities staff and contractor representatives presented revised high‑school bid results and recommended subcontractor awards for several summer projects. Jay, the firm's representative, said the scope changed since design approval: demo stations were removed from some lab spaces, a proposed program room was pulled from this phase, and budget was added for replacement math furniture. The revised budget target for the scopes presented was $2,760,581. The district will fund the work with $1,320,000 from originally planned high‑school work and by issuing a $1,500,000 deductive change order from the current middle‑school contract, creating just over $2.8 million to cover the summer projects. Jay said the district can start in June 2026 with a plan to turn renovated spaces back to teachers in August.

Trustees moved to approve the recommended award list and final dollar amount; the motion passed on a voice vote. Board members asked staff to prioritize early work in the English classrooms so teachers can move in a week before the normal reporting date.

The approvals follow committee vetting: the facilities committee earlier recommended the Warrior pitch soccer funding (a portion of community‑raised funds) and the capital maintenance budget by unanimous committee votes. Trustees signaled support for using savings and contingency protection in one project to accelerate priority needs in another.

What happens next: staff will execute subcontract awards, place material orders for a June start where feasible, and continue public communications about timing and classroom access.