When we last checked in with the School Board, the focus group format and questions were being hammered out and the survey was getting a green light in principle. Wednesday’s meeting was about finalizing the coming survey and additional focus groups.
As always, here are my observations on what matters for those tracking the referendum process:
The First Focus Group: 80+ Residents, Varied Perspectives
Superintendent Dr. Jamie Foeckler shared a brief recap of Monday night’s community focus group, which drew more than 80 participants across 16 tables. He thanked the community for showing up and described the experience of rotating around the room as hearing “a lot of varied perspectives and approaches from people.”
The themes from that session haven’t been formally compiled yet. That synthesis will come out in the future and be posted publicly on the district website. The second community focus group is still scheduled for July 14.
I attended Monday’s gathering, and my group had a thoughtful discussion with a range of viewpoints. Multiple members cited the price tag as a significant reason for not fully supporting the first referendum. Other concerns included the Armory Memorial relocation, the lack of concrete plans for what residents would be paying for beyond a price tag, and the influence of negative discourse amongst community members in the WFB Villagers Facebook group. Interestingly, group members shared that they felt they didn’t have enough concrete information about what was being proposed, while also expressing concern that the $67.7 million price tag on the new middle school included ‘all the bells and whistles.’ It’s hard to know whether a proposal is too luxurious when all we know is the headline number, but that gap between what Villagers know and what they may perceive to know points to the exact challenge up ahead for the district as it moves towards a presumed November vote.
Two New Stakeholder Sessions Added
The board approved two additional focus group invitations, both in July, targeting groups with specific stakes in the middle school question.
The first is for community members specifically involved in or concerned with the Armory Memorial. That session will be held on July 20th at 6pm in the Middle School Library Media Center. The letter going to that group asks specifically about where the memorial should be placed if a new school on the site moves forward: on the exterior of a new building, or on the green space at the current middle school site.
The second is a neighborhood focus group for residents living on the streets immediately surrounding the middle school/park — Kimbark, Meadow, Sylvan, Lake, Henry Clay, and Ardmore. That one is July 21st at 6pm in the Middle School Gym.
It appears they will use the same format for these two meetings as the broader community sessions, not a special agenda or Q&A format. Board members discussed that all will be welcome to attend those sessions.
The Survey: Approved After Significant Wordsmithing
The board voted to approve a new community survey after a lengthy line-by-line discussion that produced several notable changes from the draft. The Donovan Group, the district’s communications firm, handled the original draft and will finalize revisions based on Wednesday’s discussion. A few board members lamented the absence of The Donovan Group at the meeting as they were not able to attend. The survey opens June 29, with postcards and QR codes arriving in mailboxes around July 1-3. It closes July 31. This version of the survey will be submitted online as opposed to the prior paper survey.
For readers curious to see the original draft, I’ve uploaded it to Dropbox here. Please note that this draft is going to be updated as mentioned above.
A Side Note on Why the Referendum Matters
Buried in the Building and Grounds committee meeting was a useful illustration of what’s at stake. The district’s Siemens building automation system — the controls that run HVAC throughout the high school and can impact both Cumberland’s and Richards’ HVACs — failed for about a week this past April. The district got it back online, but the underlying system dates to the 1990s and is increasingly fragile. The board was presented with three options: do nothing and accept the risk, do a partial upgrade for around $220,000, or replace the whole thing for over $1 million. The catch: any money spent now would almost certainly be torn out and replaced anyway if a referendum passes, since full HVAC replacement at the high school is part of the proposed scope. Even if voters approve something in November, referendum-funded work wouldn’t start until summer 2028 at the earliest. As one board member put it, any fix short of the referendum is “a decent-sized bandage.”
What’s Next
The survey opens June 29th and will be conducted online. The second community focus group is July 14th. The Armory Memorial focus group is July 20th, the neighborhood focus group July 21th. Survey results go to the board August 12th, with a follow-up meeting August 19th to shape a potential November ballot question — all ahead of the August 25th statutory deadline for a referendum question on the November ballot.
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