Winona Area Public Schools
On a recent weekday morning, heavy machinery pushed around dirt and dumped rocks in front of Winona Senior High School. Sheets of plastic quarantined the office at Washington-Kosciusko Elementary school. A construction crew hauled concrete blocks out of Goodview Elementary School. Fresh paint coated the walls of various areas within Jefferson Elementary School. And at Winona Middle School, another crew tore out the carpet in the main corridor on the second floor to make room for new flooring.
School may be out for the summer, but the work around Winona Area Public Schools certainly hasn’t stopped thanks to the community’s support of a $9.42 million bond referendum in November of 2018.
The passage of the referendum has allowed the district to enhance safety and security for students, staff and guests, improve accessibility for people with disabilities and address critical facility needs.
Some of the referendum projects will be completed this year — many of them before school starts — while others will start and finish in the summer of 2020.
Mike McArdle, Buildings and Grounds Director for Winona Area Public Schools, said the projects are all running smoothly, and he has been in constant contact with Wold Architects and Engineers, the firm in charge of the referendum projects, as well as the contractors in charge of the individual projects.
“I have to give a lot of credit to the people in our community,” McArdle said. “They made an enormous investment in our youth.”
Here’s a quick look at what is happening around the district this summer.
High school parking lot
Perhaps the most visible of the projects is the reconstruction of the student parking lot and the circle drop-off/pick-up drive at the high school. Construction started on June 24 and will be completed by the time school begins in September.
“Even with the wet weather we’ve had, they feel they are on schedule,” McArdle said.
The layout of the parking lot will be the same, but the concrete barriers have been removed and will be replaced with split-level fencing. More than 1,000 linear feet of curbs and gutters will be replaced as well.
“They will be adding 4-5 feet in each drive lane to make it easier to back out,” McArdle added.
Security upgrades
Security improvements are planned for all three elementary schools, but the most noticeable changes will come at W-K.
“We want to have all of the parents and general public have one point of entry,” McArdle said. “That way, it’s a staff member granting them access beyond that point.”
That means the W-K office will have to undergo a transformation to create a “transaction window,” where the public will register via the Raptor Management System before being allowed access to the rest of the building.
The upgrades also include new security cameras and door contacts.
At Jefferson and Goodview, which already utilize transaction windows, the changes will be less noticeable. Both schools will be getting new security cameras and door contacts, and Jefferson will be getting new interior doors to create a vestibule area.
New cameras and door contacts are also on tap at the middle school and the ALC.
Accessibility issues
Within the next two weeks, construction will begin on an accessible ramp at Jefferson. WAPS and Wold have been working with the City of Winona’s Heritage Preservation Commission on the proposal.
Construction will continue into the start of the school year, McArdle said, but he’s been assured by the contractors that students, parents and the public will be able to use the entrance when school begins.
“We have to have at least half of the entrance available for path of egress,” McArdle said. “For the most part, the finishes will just be railings, landscaping and other things."
Other projects
There are a number of other projects being completed around the district.
Bathrooms in several buildings are being upgraded to become ADA compliant. Fire alarm systems are being replaced in Goodview, Jefferson and the high school.
Later this summer, the hard surface play areas at Jefferson and Goodview will be repaved. The parking lot at Goodview will also be repaved.
At the middle school, flooring is being replaced in the hallways and stairwells. That project was originally scheduled for 2020 but was able to be moved up to 2019.
At the high school, a grease interceptor is being installed in the kitchen.
Non-referendum projects include the removal of an underground storage tank at the high school, as well as the replacement of several air handling units.
The roof at Jefferson will be replaced starting next week, and several steps have been completed to improve the air quality in the basement. A portion of the lower level and the air tunnel have been repainted, a finished ceiling was added in the art room, exhaust fans received repairs and four commercial dehumidifiers have been running nonstop all summer.
What about 2020?
There are still more projects yet to be tackled. Those will take place in 2020.
Among those include electrical and plumbing upgrades at Jefferson and W-K, resurfacing of parking and play areas at W-K and the middle school, and replacement of the pool unit at the middle school.
Everything is on schedule
McArdle said there have been no major delays in any of the projects.
“They are moving well,” he said. “Considering the weather we’ve had, it hasn’t impacted us too much.”
The majority of the projects are expected to be completed by the time school begins, but as is the case with anything of this magnitude, there are bound to be minor delays here and there.
If any project extends into the school year, McArdle said, the contractors have promised to limit the disruption, especially in the elementary schools.
“They know that the vast majority of their work will need to be done outside of school hours,” he said.
For more photos and referendum updates, check back at winonaschools.org throughout the summer.