Monroe High School Referendum Process and Timeline

The process of bringing the referendum question presented to our community to build a new High School on a new site and remodel Abe Lincoln is the culmination of 5 year’s worth of work and engagement beginning with community forums in 2017 to develop a strategic plan and subsequently led to an RFP and a facilities study in 2018. The effort included multiple newsletters, multiple community listening sessions, multiple committees, and two community surveys sent to every mailbox in the District. 

Elementary Consolidation Committee - 2018

A recommendation to close Abe Lincoln and move to a 7-12 building came from the Elementary Consolidation (EC) committee in its recommendation to the board on 5/13/19. The EC presented several options and the committee was unable to come to a unanimous decision on an option. Its recommendation was based on a simple majority of the participants. Below is a link to the EC’s presentation.  Please note the presentation does not state that the EC presented the options in a ranked preference order. 

District Facilities Committee - 2018

A District Facilities committee was also formed in February of 2018 to review and narrow all possible construction options. Seventeen different options were considered and narrowed to a recommendation of a 7-12 remodel and closing Abe Lincoln. The District Facilities committee met ten times, toured all District facilities, toured four other District’s facilities, and presented its recommendation to the Board on 7/8/19. Below is a link to the District Facilities Committee presentation.

Establishing the Facilities Options - 2019

The EC (Elementary Consolidation committee) recommendation was considered in parallel with the Facilities Committee recommendation given to the Board by Plunkett Raysich and CG Schmidt, our architectural and construction partners, on 12/9/19. PRA and CG further articulated the 5 combined options from the committees for the Board to consider with the intent to commission a community survey to determine which option had majority support in the community to move forward. Below is a link to the PRA and CG Schmidt presentation. 

Surveying the Community - January 2020

In January of 2020 the Board had School Perceptions survey the entire community on a 7-12 remodel and closing Abe Lincoln, and a 9-12 remodel and keep/update Abe Lincoln. On 3/9/20 School Perceptions presented the results and neither option surveyed well. The 7-12 was predicted to fail with 45% approval. The weighted prediction for the 9-12 was not calculated since it surveyed worse, but the raw response predicted a failure with 36% approval. School Perceptions did not recommend moving forward with either option as surveyed. Below is a link to the survey results. 

Without a clear option that would have community support, the Board needed to develop a new approach based on School Perceptions’ recommendations and feedback from the community to be ready for a referendum in the fall of 2020. Then COVID-19 began and all referendum efforts for fall of 2020 were suspended. 

District Facilities Committee - 2021

In 2021 the District re-engaged an expanded Facilities Committee to consider the community feedback and determine which options to potentially survey in the fall of 2021. On 10/25/21 the Facilities Committee presented its findings to the Board. The Committee had met four more times and reviewed seven original options from the previous efforts and narrowed them again to a 7-12 remodel and closing Abe, and a 9-12 on a new site. Their overall recommendation was for a 9-12 on a new site but recommended surveying both options. Below is a link to the 2021 District Facilities Committee presentation. 

Surveying the Community - January 2022

The Board again engaged with School Perceptions to survey the community on those two options and surveyed every household in the District. School Perceptions delivered its findings to the Board on 2/14/22. The 7-12 option again surveyed poorly and was not viable to take to the community at referendum. The 9-12 option on a new site had a weighted expected approval of 62% and School Perceptions felt there was sufficient support to take it to the voters and ask for their approval. Below is a link to the School Perceptions presentation of the 2022 community survey results.

Community Engagement and Decision-Making

Committees that provided recommendations to the Board represent a wide variety of stakeholders within the community. The committee meetings were open to the public, periodic reports were reported at Board meetings, agendas detailing the time and place to hear their findings were posted in the paper, and progress was provided in school newsletters sent to every home in the District. Narrowing from seventeen options/recommendations over time down to the one that has the best chance of success has been an effort of community engagement, compromise, and communication. The Board made the decision to ask for a new 9-12 High School on a new site through discussions based on the supportive details presented here. 

Looking to the Future

The funds to complete the project have been borrowed and reinvested to capitalize on a positive return in short term interest to help offset inflationary pressures of the project. There will be opportunities for the public to participate in the process as we move forward. That process will begin once a site has been selected. As the design process progresses, we will be demonstrating how this unique opportunity is going to create experiences for our students and educators that simply aren’t possible today. As a community we will have the opportunity to enhance our ability to better prepare our students for life, careers, and college.