Fairfield school district plans to add new wing to middle school

FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield school board is united in a plan to build a new wing onto the existing middle school, and then demolish a portion of the building that has been expensive to maintain due to water infiltration.

At its regular meeting on Feb. 16, the board voted unanimously to pursue a “hybrid” plan to address the maintenance problems at the middle school that would combine construction of new classrooms, as well as maintaining a good chunk of the building such as the cafetorium, gymnasium, kitchen, band room and fine arts rooms on the west side. Once the new wing is built, the two floors on the east side of the building will be demolished, since that side has the most water problems and is the most expensive to maintain.

At the board’s next regular meeting on March 23, it will hold a public hearing on a proposed issuance of up to $23.5 million in school infrastructure bonds, which would be paid for from the 1 cent sales tax the district already receives. Fairfield Superintendent Zach Wigle said this would not affect the district’s tax levy, nor would it require a referendum.

The specifics of the middle school’s new wing are still being ironed out, but Wigle said the most likely scenario is to add onto the existing structure’s north side, where the front entrance is now. That would mean moving the bus lane that currently occupies that space. Wigle said, if everything goes as planned, the district hopes to go out for bids on the project before Christmas, to begin construction in spring 2027, and for students to move in to the new wing by fall 2028.

“Kids will never be displaced, and we won’t need mobile classrooms,” he said. “It will be inconvenient and we’ll have to reroute buses, but we won’t have kids in modulars.”

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