Building consolidation plan unveiled
Admin says details still a ‘work in progress’
By Steve Van Kooten
During the Prairie du Chien Board of Education's Feb. 9 meeting, the school administration unveiled details about the upcoming school building consolidation that is scheduled to take place over the summer.
The consolidation will include the closure of B.A. Kennedy, the district's elementary building, and moving those students to Bluff View. Grades 7 and 8 will be moved to the high school.
"The adjustment is there aren't any sixth graders coming to the high school... It’s seventh and eighth graders coming over next year," said District Administrator Andy Banasik.
The tentative schedule for moving grades to their new areas and making other adjustments is July 6–10 for the high school, July 13–17 for the middle school, July 20–24 for Bluff View Elementary and July 27–31 for BA Kennedy grades.
Several of the administrators noted that the plan is still taking shape, and certain details may change as time goes on.
K-2nd grade
BA Kennedy Principal Laura Stuckey presented the current plans for moving 3K through second grade to Bluff View School. Those grades will take the space previously used for grades 6-8.
Kindergarten, first grade and second grade would have pods of classrooms in their own wings of the building.
The kindergarten pod would be in the north pod facing the softball diamond, and first grade would be in the east pod.
Issues that are still being discussed for the early grades include accessible bathrooms, drop-off and pick-up plans for buses and parents, staff and visitor parking, meal schedules and other routines and whether or not to transplant the B.A. Kennedy playground.
"These are leader team discussions that will filter to full-staff discussions as we continue down this pathway," said Stuckey.
"We know bussing is a concern there — it's a concern now," said Banasik. "We'll keep working on ideas on how that will work."
On Feb. 12, administrators and board members met with representatives from architectural firm HSR Associates to discuss remodeling plans for Bluff View, where the elementary grades will be placed starting in the 2026–27 school year.
By the end of the meeting, HSR, administrators and board members agreed they had made progress. The plan is to meet again after a few weeks to discuss contractors and work plans to make new bathroom facilities.
At this time, the district is still considering its options to pay for the construction. According to Banasik, the district cannot take any money from its Fund 46 until 2028. He added that the administration and board will be reviewing the district’s fund balance and possible short-term borrowing options.
Grades 3-6
Grades 3-5 aren't moving buildings, but adjustments will still need to be made to accommodate sixth grade students, who will be moving over from the other side of the building.
"We are 100 percent in support of adding sixth grade. We have confirmed that we have some classrooms on that side of the building," said Bluff View Elementary Principal Tomi Gebhard.
The kitchen staff also confirmed that an additional lunchtime could be added to the schedule, according to Gebhard.
Adding sixth grade also means the school will need to consider other programming needs.
"Sixth grade does unique things: they have band, they have choir and things like that. We don't want to take away anything," said Gebhard.
The Bluff View Elementary team is still discussing scheduling for third through sixth grade, start- and end-of-day routines, room placement and staffing, shared areas, and parking, among others.
"Our staff is so passionate; they want to get this right. They want to make sure that students are transitioning smoothly, that this is successful and that this is the right decision," said Gebhard.
Lisa Mink, a Bluff View Elementary teacher, and Bluff View Library Assistant Ana Hafke unveiled plans for a Media and Innovation Learning Lab and Literacy and Learning Center for the Bluff View building.
"Both of these labs create a complete cycle of learning: students learn the skills and then learn how to use them," said Mink.
"We see this lab as a bridge — a technology mashup where our older sixth graders become media engineers and mentor their reading buddies," said Hafke. "We're working to build a culture where leadership and technical skills go hand in hand."
Grades 7-8
The high school will also require extensive organizational changes for the incoming seventh and eighth grade students.
"What we ultimately landed on is middle school lockers will be downstairs, and most of the classrooms will also be downstairs," said Middle School Principal Eric Mumm.
Certain learning areas, such as career and technical education, art and band and choir, will be downstairs for both schools due to space needs.
Upstairs will primarily be used for high school classes, but middle school students will still need to go up there to utilize the science labs.
Another core concern has been the school's bell schedule.
"We've spent a lot of time talking about bell schedules. With us in one building and staff members possibly teaching a seventh-grade class and also a class with juniors and seniors in it, we had to align our schedules," said Mumm. "To do that, we had to put in another class period. We currently have nine periods at the middle school. What [the schedule] will look like is nine periods plus a flex time to match high school's flex time."
The schedule change will shorten class times for middle school students down from 44 minutes to 39 minutes.
"That's a pretty quick class period, so to combat that a little bit, we want to do a weekly schedule," said Mumm.
The proposed schedule has middle school students using an alternating schedule during the week. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the students will have nine 39-minute periods plus a flex time, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the schedule will include four 82-minute periods, one 41-minute period, and a 40-minute flex time. On both days, lunch will be at 11:34 a.m.
During the Tuesday/Thursday block schedule, classes will alternate. For example, on Tuesday, the students might have classes during periods one, five, seven and nine of the M-W-F schedule, and two, four, six and eight on Thursdays. The students' third-period class will take place five days a week and start at the same time each day (9:27 a.m.).
"This is a draft, and we went through several drafts to get to this point, and I'm sure there will be some slight changes as we finish all of that out," said Mumm.
The middle school team is still looking for space for some programs, like occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech, guidance and the student resource officer.
Banasik added they "have ideas" on where to place occupational therapy and other programs; they're working on finding the best possible option.
Grades 9-12
Banasik said the high school students' schedule will stay the same with the exception of the lunch period, which will start at 10:49 a.m.
"That's earlier this year," he said.
The high school is considering making an à la carte option for students to help offset the early lunchtime.
"This à la carte will be right out of our concession stand here that we have located in our cafeteria. We've had great success with our à la carte at breakfast."
He estimated that the à la carte currently gets around 20 students for breakfast plus another 50 during the day.
The next school board meeting is scheduled for March 9.
Hires
Stephen Ronnfeldt, assistant high school boys wrestling coach.
Resignations
Amanda Hofer, B.A. Kennedy teacher's aide.
Other business
• The middle school play will take place on Feb. 26, and the high school play is scheduled for dates between April 16 and 18.
• Band and choir events are scheduled for March 19 (combined), April 21 (choir) and April 30 (band).
