Fairfield school board to discuss future of middle school Feb. 9

FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield School Board will hold a study session Monday night to discuss the future of the middle school.

The school board has tried unsuccessfully to pass a bond to build a new middle school, coming up a few percentage points short in 2024 and again in 2025. But faced with the cost of maintaining the existing building, the board is considering how to best manage its money and its responsibilities to students and teachers.

At 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 9, the board will convene at the ACT building for a study session specifically on the middle school, including design firms used to plan its earlier proposals for a new building. School board president Meghan Dowd Robbins said the district’s SAVE funds from its penny levy could supply possibly $23 million in bonding toward either repairs or new construction. Since the sales tax levy for this fund is already approved, this option would not require a referendum.

Another option the board will consider is asking voters to approve a smaller general obligation bond this fall compared to previous years, in the hopes that shrinking the scope of the project would mean a lower tax increase, which would in turn receive more public support. Dowd Robbins suggested this could mean a new building but with only one gymnasium instead of two, for instance.

Dowd Robbins said the district’s architectural and engineering firm FEH Design will give the board a “menu of costs” to help members decide whether it makes sense to build a new wing onto the existing school, to renovate parts of it, or to go with a totally new building.

She said Monday’s discussion will be a way for board members to “identify how we can be intentional with what we need and not spend money renovating a building that ultimately doesn’t serve the classroom needs of our middle school students.”

Fairfield Superintendent Zach Wigle said that if the board pursues a project using SAVE bonding, it would have to approve that by April at the latest. Regardless of whichever direction the board ultimately goes, he expects some action will be taken on the middle school this year.

“We want to make sure we’re showing our teachers and students we care about them,” he said.

In 2025, voters in the district were asked to approve a $39.5 million bond for a new middle school, but the referendum received only 56 percent support and not the 60 percent required to pass. Wigle said he does not expect the school board to propose another $30-$40 million bond, and instead to look at one option where it bonds for about half that amount.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com