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Board reviews secondary facility planning proposal, defers major West High projects to rebuild capital reserve
Summary
The board heard a joint proposal from PRA and Zimmerman to support secondary facility planning and referendum work, and administrators said they would defer major West High projects and label fund 41 an "emergency use" balance (~$1.2M) to protect against unplanned repairs.
The Wauwatosa School Board reviewed recommended architectural and engineering planning services for secondary facilities and discussed short-term capital priorities and fund balance strategy.
Administration presented a concept agreement that pairs PRA (familiar with district work) and Zimmerman Design Group to provide facility assessment, modeling and referendum planning support for the secondary ad hoc committee. Administration said five firms were solicited and two responded; the combined proposal is intended to bring both institutional knowledge and specialized facility expertise.
Board members asked about procurement ("How many responded?"), scope division between the two firms and whether the fees were already budgeted. Administration told the board that the ad-hoc consulting work was budgeted for (to study options and prepare any potential referendum) and that any construction funds or referendum spending would require separate board action.
On capital projects, administration presented a revised two-year capital-improvement plan and noted several 2024-25 projects are complete. Because the capital-projects fund balance fell, administrators recommended deferring several large projects at Wauwatosa West (including a standby power generator and certain electrical and roofing work) to rebuild fund 41. The administration characterized fund 41's current balance as an "emergency use" reserve of roughly $1.2 million and said that approach will preserve capacity for unpredictable failures (the Jefferson Elementary water-main break was cited as an example).
The board discussed the trade-offs of deferring predictable maintenance to preserve funds for emergencies and asked whether the district has a replenishment plan; finance staff said surplus funds were currently directed to general fund balances with potential policy discussion about where to place future surpluses.
No final construction contracts were approved at the meeting; administration said formal contracts and EAA documents would be presented to the board at a future meeting for review.
