The format for four upcoming community engagement sessions was reviewed by the Neenah Joint School District Board of Education at a special meeting on June 20, 2019.

The Board reviewed six potential facilities pathways as presented by Craig Sachs from Miron Construction. Administration developed the pathways as a starting point for discussion in response to community feedback following the referendum in April. They are all long-term solutions and not individual referendum questions.

“This is not referendum planning,” Superintendent Dr. Mary Pfeiffer said. “This is giving the community options in giving us their feedback. It's really viewing these pathways as roadmaps or visions for a long-term configuration of what our district should look like.”

A cost breakdown was added for various portions of each pathway. Pfeiffer noted that funding strategies will be added after the community engagement sessions. Sachs added that the components of the previous referendum that affected every school such as Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements, safety and security upgrades and infrastructure improvements were all incorporated into the costs in each pathways. The pathways all have slightly different grade configurations, but the scope of the projects within each pathway are the same to provide consistency. Sachs particularly noted that Pathway #1 with a renovation of Shattuck consists of a 100 percent heavy renovation throughout the building, as opposed to the 50 percent renovation that was explored during the previous referendum preparation.

The Board discussed whether to have facilitators at each table during the engagement sessions and how to best gather feedback from attendees. Some Board members wondered whether to seek opinions in regards to closing elementary schools and changing the middle school grade configuration rather than just listing pros and cons for each pathway. Pfeiffer said the final format has not been determined and these suggestions would be considered.

The community engagement sessions are set for July 15 at 6 p.m. at Spring Road Elementary, July 24 at 10 a.m. at Lakeview Elementary, July 29 at 6 p.m. at Neenah High School and August 15 at 6 p.m. at the Neenah Public Library.