Madison Reporter

Early efforts for the Madison Metropolitan School District’s (MMSD) 2024 facilities referendum have commenced, as discussed at a recent operations work group meeting of the Board of Education.

Since December, MMSD's project team has been visiting sites and conducting field scans of locations approved for updates by the community. However, Milele Chikasa Anana and Crestwood elementary schools are exceptions, as they will not undergo new constructions.

The team is working on defining programming and holding visioning sessions for new facilities. Building concept and performance workshops are planned for later this month, with programming meetings for administrative groups and user-input sessions in February. Public input opportunities are scheduled for early March concerning projects at Malcolm Shabazz City High School/Sherman Middle School and Black Hawk Middle School/Samuel Gompers Elementary School.

“At our first public input sessions, we’ll be able to get some feedback [regarding], what does our community like?” said Scott Chehak, MMSD’s senior executive director of building services. “[We’ll be able to say] here’s our initial concept of what the space might look and feel like. Is it accessible to the community? Does it fit their targets? And then take that information and put it into design scopes and give the community what they want.”

The district plans to replace buildings housing several schools: Malcolm Shabazz City High, Sherman Middle, Black Hawk Middle, Samuel Gompers Elementary, Akira R. Toki Middle, Orchard Ridge Elementary, Cherokee Heights Middle, and Ray F. Sennett Middle schools. Renovations are also planned for Milele Chikasa Anana and Crestwood elementary schools.

Work is expected to occur in three phases: phase one includes Sherman/Shabazz and Black Hawk/Gompers (November 2024 through October 2027); phase two involves Toki/Orchard Ridge and Cherokee Heights (November 2025 through October 2028); phase three covers Sennett, Anana, and Crestwood (November 2026 through October 2029). Construction is slated to begin in February 2026.

“Each month there will be a new report which will give a status of where we’re at and how we’re building through the referendum,” said Chehak.

The Board is set to vote on selecting a construction-management partner during its regular meeting on January 27.