Catching up is a lot of work

Workers were racing this week to finish millions of dollars of maintenance projects and improvements at four Port Washington-Saukville School District buildings in time for the start of classes on Tuesday, Sept. 1.

“Our construction is right up to the finish line, but it will be finalized by Thursday (Aug. 27),” Supt. Michael McMahon told the School Board Monday. “So in terms of kids accessing schools, we’ll be ready to go Sept. 1.

“We accomplished a ton this summer.”

The projects — everything from roofing work to bathroom and classroom renovations — are being financed by money borrowed after voters approved a $59.4 million referendum in April 2025.

Of that amount, $45.8 million has been earmarked for a new Saukville Elementary School, which is under construction on Orchard Lane at Bucktrout Street on the west side of the Village of Saukville and is to be completed in summer 2027.

That leaves $13.6 million for school maintenance projects, although the district may have more to spend on renovations thanks to interest income earned on $49 million in referendum funding borrowed last year.

The School Board on Monday authorized the borrowing of the remaining $10 million later this year.

This summer’s projects addressed a growing list of deferred maintenance in the district and represents an investment in the foreseeable future of the district that won’t include referendums to handle building upkeep, McMahon said.

“I think we’re in a really good spot to not have to go back to referendum for maintenance, at least not during my career,” he said, noting that the district has committed to establishing a long-term maintenance fund that will be sufficient to handle the general upkeep of its buildings.

“I don’t want to have to host referendum presentations again and tell people we need more money to take care of our buildings.”

The projects included roof work at Dunwiddie and Lincoln elementary schools as well as Port Washington High School and Thomas Jefferson Middle School, which underwent a near-total roof replacement.

At the high school, much of the work focused on masonry restoration and window replacement, although HVAC systems and bathrooms were also upgraded.

The high school underwent a significant renovation after the approval of a $49.4 million referendum in 2015, creating what school officials described as a “like-new school,” but that work didn’t address the oldest part of the school that was the subject of this summer’s projects.

At the two elementary schools, bathrooms were renovated and new windows and exterior doors were installed.

“Some of this work is not so noticeable, but it’s really about being more energy efficient and improving building safety for our students and staff,” McMahon said.

In addition to the roof replacement at the middle school, where water has poured into classrooms during heavy rain in the recent past, work has included a major renovation of the band and choir room, a dated space that had featured an orchestra pit that teachers found difficult to work around. That has been removed and new carpeting and acoustic treatments have been installed. A dehumidification system in the room has been moved to a mechanical systems area.

“It has been transformed,” McMahon said in a social media video released Monday featuring the middle school work. “We have new roofs and basically a new band and choir room. We’re so excited for our students and families to come back.”

Meanwhile, the foundation has been laid for the new 91,000-square-foot Saukville Elementary School being built on what was 10 acres of Town of Saukville farmland before it was annexed by the village. The School District purchased the land from the Elda V. Bunk estate in July 2025 for $552,000.

The school will have a “two-story look from the back” with a “full exposure of windows looking out to the conservancy,” Mike McGraw, a partner and director of construction administration for Groth Design Group, the architectural firm designing the school, told the Village of Saukville Plan Commission last year.

“The views are going to be spectacular,” he said.

The north end of the building, where a full-sized gym and cafeteria will be located, has been designed with community use in mind and can be secured from the remainder of the school. The area will also include what the district is calling a community classroom.

“This essentially will be a space the community can rent out, maybe for something like the village’s winter farmers market,” McMahon said earlier this year.

It will also be used for before and after-school child care.

“Right now we’re using elementary school gyms for before and after-school care, and those sometimes aren’t the ideal spaces for that,” he said.

Classrooms, which will be grouped primarily in the south end of the building, will be organized in grade-level pods, with three classrooms and an open shared collaborative space in each pod.

Key to the traffic plan for the school is the improvement of Orchard Lane, which was a gravel road, to provide primary access to the school from Hillcrest Road to the north. Orchard Lane will remain in the town but the district is paying to improve the road and create a pedestrian and bike path along it.

The school will also be accessible from Bucktrout Street, but the Orchard Lane improvements are intended to reduce school traffic on the residential street.

The school is to be completed in time for the beginning of the 2027-28 school year.

“We’ll start to see the walls of the gym emerge in early September,” McMahon said this week. “We’ll start to see from Bucktrout Street and Orchard Lane a school that will be opening in about 12 months.

“I’m really, really excited for that.”