Since the 2022 school year, the Stoughton Area School District School Board held a referendum regarding proposed changes to architecture amongst its locations. The board held a vote, and the two-question poll confirmed these changes. Changes will be seen to the structure of Stoughton schools by the end of 2025.
The main focus of this referendum was modernizing Stoughton schools. Most notably, the changes include reworking the River Bluff Middle School gymnasium and athletics area. Also proposed is a complete remodel of the Stoughton High School cafeteria and kitchen.
“We continue to seek opportunities that will improve safety and security in our schools,“ said Jill Patterson, Vice President of the SASD School Board.
Another goal of this referendum was to modify school accessibility in greater compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. A survey reflected 65% agreement that a $36 Million budget is in place to address those changes across the district.
RBMS’ current gymnasiums are separated by a busy parking lot, which students involved in physical education classes must cross to use. The changes will eliminate that distance between them, as well as make a new front entrance adjacent to the second gymnasium and a new bus import just down the hall. Traffic flow is also an issue addressed with the vote.
The Community Gymnasium across the street will be demolished with the new changes. These new main building changes include a fitness center and a multi-purpose athletics department.
The plans passed will impact Stoughton High School as well, namely by the complete remodeling of the SHS cafeterias, including an improved servery and a school store. The remodeling will replace the layered auditorium-like layout with the stage at the front. Currently, the cafeteria does not hold enough space, and the lunch servery remains small. With respect to the traffic changes, this is a proposed improvement.
Utilizing reference from the Wisconsin Historical Society, an aim for the remodeling is to take inspiration from a traditional “coffee break” aesthetic and model in the style of a Scandinavian coffee house. The style features a purple and white palette with modernist wooden decor and open space and lighting.
However, issues with the cafeteria remodeling have arisen. One performance that annually takes place in the main cafeteria is the Madrigal Choir Concert, in which they arrange tables and decorations to perform a medieval experience for families of choir students. With these changes, new plans will need to be made to relocate the performance, or revert to another idea, such as the Madrigal Concert held in 2021 due to COVID-19.
Costume storage is also found behind the stage of the cafeteria, and the cafeteria changes will have to move this storage. Another impact of the new cafeteria will be the destruction of two previous math rooms: 424 and 422. These rooms were formerly inhabited by Mrs. Siget and Mr. Tormey
The whole school district will be impacted by the effects of this referendum. Overall, the funds put towards these projects will amount to no more than $37,170,000. The projects are announced to be completed by the summer of 2025. “We are looking forward to beginning
the design phase and will keep our community updated throughout this next process,” said Dr. Dan Keyser, District Administrator.