Project seeks to renovate, expand Medford high school

Voters in the Medford School District are being asked to support a $39.9 million referendum to renovate and expand the high school building.

On Tuesday evening school officials and those involved with the project held the first in a series of informational sessions to answer questions residents may have about the referendum project.

According to Ken Turba, a project leader with Plunkett Raysich Architects (PRA), the referendum project addresses the following issues in the school:

_ Improving security - This includes building out a new front office area that will provide more monitored access to the building as well as connecting the tech ed building to the main building. Students currently have to walk outside to go to classes there. The project seeks $2.7 million for security upgrades.

_ Upgrading building infrastructure — Replacing decaying plumbing and electrical service is not very flashy when it comes to asking for public investments, but it is essential for the smooth operation of the building. The project includes $6.2 million to upgrade these major infrastructure areas.

_ Expanding education spaces — The lion’s share of the referendum project includes the construction of additional classrooms for science and technology programs. According to administrator Pat Sullivan, the district’s engineering programs are growing and need more space to provide students with skills that are in high demand in the workplace. In other parts of the building, the existing spaces will be heavily renovated to meet current and future educational needs. This also includes the addition of a new theater as the Red/White Theater space will be converted into a new library area and additional physical education space which will be used for practices as well as community use. The project includes $29.3 million for educational upgrades throughout the building.

_ Upgrading the cafeteria and commons — This will allow for expanded space and serving areas to improve efficiency in the cafeteria and provide common spaces. The project includes $1.7 million for these improvements.

Impact to taxpayers

If approved by voters in the Nov. 3 general election, one of the first steps for the district will be to secure financing for the project. Given the size of the project they would seek a 20-year repayment period.

According to district finance director Audra Brooks, the timing for the project is right with historic low interest rates and the district retirement of previous debt.

The district has been working with Baird, a Milwaukee-based financial consulting firm, to assist with the financing and they have built conservative financing models with projected interest rates of 3.5% to 3.75%. With the current interest rate environment, representatives from Baird expect the actual rates to be much lower than that. In local comparisons, the city of Medford this past summer borrowed at a 0.9% interest rate for a water tower and sewer project and the county is projecting interest rates below 2% for a planned borrowing for a series of projects.

As projected with the conservative interest rates, the tax impact will be about 53 cents per $1,000 of value, or about $53 a year on a $100,000 home. However, due to retirement of other debt and improved operational effi ciencies within the district, the debt service on the referendum project could be largely or entirely absorbed within the current tax rate meaning many taxpayers would not see any increase in the school portion of their property taxes due to the referendum. Much of this depends on the timing of borrowing to achieve the best rate possible for the district. The original plan calls for staggered borrowing as needed, but if interest rates are favorable the district could do one borrowing.

Project timeline

If approved by voters on Nov. 3, design work would continue through the 2020-2021 school year with groundbreaking on additions to take place in summer and fall of 2021. Renovations would begin in spring 2022, with the entire project completed by the start of the 2022-2023 school year.