During the regular meeting of the Potosi Public School Board last Wednesday, discussions took place about information sessions to be held with the public about the upcoming April operating referendum.

Having had to spend part of their fund balance because state-imposed revenue caps, the district was going to referendum this spring to ask voters to exceed the revenue caps to maintain the level of services and education the district provides.

Potosi District Administrator Kurt Cohen told the board that in crafting information for the voters to answer what they may ask about the referendum, he was concerned about one question mark that will likely be the first question they will ask - what will be the impact of a proposed school shelter/school gymnasium on the tax levy if that moves forward.

Problem is, whether or not that project happens, and its scope, are all up in the air.

“The first question I fear I will get is how a building referendum will affect these numbers in the fall,” Cohen told the board last week, when they also heard from representatives of Bray Architects, which was working on plans for a new gymnasium for the school.

In 2023, Potosi applied fro funding from the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). BRIC is a program for communities to get funding to create shelters in planning for the event of a disaster hitting - a place where residents who may have lost their homes a place to stay.

BRIC is a program school districts have been looking to utilize for building projects, where funding will help with construction costs. BRIC projects need to be part of a county hazard mitigation program, built to specifications to withstand heavy storms, have facilities attach for showers and food, and have items like a generator for basic use, as well as storage space for disaster supplies.

Both Potosi and Cuba City school districts had applied to the program, and had received initial approval to the second round of review. The understanding is that making it to the second round is close to actual approval, and both districts expected to learn in December if they received formal approval.

That confirmation was delayed, and expected in January. Now in February, both districts continue to wait for word.

That means Potosi may not be going to referendum in the fall, after all.

If they do, the scope of the project needs to be determined. With two preliminary plans from Bray Architects, the school board explored different ideas on what they could do, how it would impact the school campus, and what could be done to expand the new facility’s use for the community.

Originally planned to simply replace the elementary school’s gymnasium, with that space being converted into class space, Bray showed options on how the project could be used instead to become the main competition gymnasium, supplanting the current high school gym, which is the smallest and oldest in the Six Rivers Conference.

Coming off a corridor from the elementary gym, which would be converted into some program usage, the new gymnasium would have a main atrium that separated locker rooms from the gymnasium.

Bray had two different versions of the idea, another which would connect further down the elementary wing, to replace two restrooms in the alternate.

During the discussion, changes to the plan and requirements of the federal grant showed how much alterations could have on the scope of the project.

For example, one discussion was what to do with the old elementary gymnasium space - one idea would be to move the library into the space, which would allow the current library to be converted back into classrooms.

However, one concern for the space was its lack of natural lighting, and limitations due to the new locker rooms, which would be placed on the exterior wall of the space.

Community usage was a part of the discussion of the idea as well. Board members brought up the possibility of creating a walking area within the new gym area, but again how it was implemented would alter the plans extensively. Would it be within the gym area, which then would require ADA accessibility if it was a raised space, as opposed to creating a corridor around the perimeter of the main structure.

Another item brought up was to create a fitness area on the south facade of the new gymnasium. Doing this would mean it was separate from the school, and could be accessed by the public throughout the day, whether school was taking place or not.

It would also mean that the current weight room for the school could be moved into that space, opening it up for classrooms and other uses in the high school wing.

One focus of the project was its impact on the playground space. Cohen stated that the parents group had been looking at helping refurbish the playground before this project came up, and are holding off until this happens.

“They are excited,” Cohen said of the parents looking to participate in reshaping the outdoor space.

Principal Mike Uppena noted that the initial plan takes out the current outdoor basketball court, and the space designated by the architects is much smaller than what they currently have. “To put 60-80 kids out there at once will be too much,” Uppena said, as he oversees recess times.

The topography of the space makes creating more space complex, due to dropoffs on the property.

Another item is access to the outdoor fields. Under the plans shown, new parking spaces would be added to the south of the new gymnasium. This was meant to add parking to the school, not take away from the front parking, as well as create a driveway for bus drop-off at the entrance for the new gym.

Getting around to the outdoor fields would mean walking around the building, again dealing with topography.

One idea was to open the main entrance to the new gymnasium, and create a path directly to the fields through the main lobby.

Other ideas brought up were to have space for future school needs, as well as discussing the possibility for childcare space.

Another item to consider is any changes to location of the shelter/gym would need to be approved, which would delay the project.

Preparing to have enough space was shown later in the meeting as the board discussed staff for the upcoming year. The district was looking at having to have two sections of students for kindergarten, first grade, as well as have more staff for middle school, to handle the current students who are in 4K kindergarten, kindergarten, and fifth grade.

While planning and estimating for students, Cohen noted that at this time last year, they expected the 4K incoming class to be 15, which would only need one section, but when the first day came, it had ballooned to 22 students.