Whitewater Times

A special meeting of the Watertown Unified School District (WUSD) Board of Education took place on May 27. The purpose was to review proposed plans and options for long-range facilities planning within the district. The discussions focused on understanding future maintenance needs and projected costs related to the long-term care and potential consolidation of WUSD facilities.

Plunkett Raysich Architects (PRA) has been tasked with gathering feedback from both the community and the board to assess and envision the district's future building needs. Craig Wortman, President of the Board of Education, stated that current construction ideas are merely discussion points at this stage, emphasizing that no decisions will be made without prior community input.

“Watertown has shown strong support for a proactive approach to planning for potential expenses, if necessary,” Wortman said. He mentioned that replacement or consolidation of buildings is also being considered as part of the district's long-term planning, which looks ahead 20 years.

Wortman further explained, “Some of these concepts come with preliminary cost estimates should the voting public choose to proceed with them.” He clarified that shared figures represent full costs if all proposed ideas were implemented by the district.

“Any plan put to voters, however, would likely involve a smaller subset of the concepts being discussed,” Wortman added. He assured that the district is not committed to any specific action at this time.

For more information about the proposed facilities plan, visit: https://www.watertown.k12.wi.us/page/long-range-facilities-planning-study.