Renovation of Washington Questions
QUESTION:
The Vote No Dubuque School Bond committee is formally requesting the comprehensive report from your investigation concerning the potential renovation of Washington Middle School.
Please provide details on the specific areas that were the focus of your renovation study.
These should include:
- The need for additional classrooms
- Any required additions to the existing structure
- Structural updates necessary to improve the facility
- Land acquisitions that may be needed
- Mechanical updates planned as part of the renovation
We request access to the physical reports from the School District. These should detail all components included in the estimate for renovating Washington Middle School.
What is the total number of students that Washington Middle School will need to accommodate after renovation?
Additionally, please provide data on the total number of students who have attended either Washington Junior High or Washington Middle School in any given year.
Does the proposed new structure take into account the declining enrollment numbers for Washington/Jefferson Middle School, in comparison to remodeling the current campus?
What is the current debt load for the district, and how will the proposed bond—combined with borrowing against the SAVE fund—affect the future ability to finance other structural improvements at additional schools?
How would the renovation process affect student attendance, specifically regarding the need for students to attend a different school during the period of construction?
DISTRICT RESPONSE:
Thank you for your message and questions – we are happy to share our planning process evaluating middle school options and how the recommended plans were arrived at.
As context for the information provided below and attached, it’s important to note that the district has been engaged in a planning process rather than a final design and construction process. This planning process is consistent with school districts across the state and is meant to provide the necessary information to make informed decisions about future plans while also being good stewards of funds as the design and construction process is costly if done for a project that may or may not come to fruition.
Given that, the planning process does use broad estimates and assumptions using the experience and expertise of our partners at INVISION Architecture as the level of investment required to answer every question would be unwise and unsupported prior to public voter approval by the community.
It is also important to note that from the proposed bond perspective, it would allow up to $70 million in general obligation bonds to be issued, but if the project comes in lower than expected, the full amount would not be borrowed.
Below, please see the answers to your questions on an individual basis below, followed by some additional information at the end.
1. Please provide details on the specific areas that were the focus of your renovation study.
Below, you will find links to the 2022-2023 and 2025 presentations which evaluated options and scenarios considered by the district’s Community Planning Task Force. The work of the committee responded to the April 2022 established goal of the school board which focused on a two middle school solution creating feeder schools to the districts two high schools while saving general fund dollars long term. The documents linked below include:
- Assessment of the existing facilities
- Broad benchmark analysis
- High-level options including potential combinations of renovations and/or new construction
- Community survey results
- Recommendations to the School Board
2. Outline the need for additional classrooms.
Moving from three to two middle schools would add demand for students on the Washington site. In your question below, you will see the information that was previously provided to you regarding enrollment, which has informed the process throughout.
In 2022 the task force identified a need for a 1,250 student middle school. The 2025 task force identified a need for 1,000-1,100 student middle school, based on updated enrollment data.
This is roughly double the existing population at Washington.
More detailed information was shared in the November 2022 community meeting, the February 2023 recommendation to the school board, the spring 2025 community meetings, and the May 2025 recommendation to the school board, with all of these documents available linked above.
3. Any required additions to the existing structure.
Additions to Washington to accommodate new and existing students in an environment that is equitable to Roosevelt are shown in the study. The area is based upon average regional standards for area per student at a modern middle school which typically ranges between 180 and 220 sf/student. The addition required would roughly double the existing size of Washington Middle School.
4. Structural updates necessary to improve the facility.
At over 100 years old, there are known issues of masonry repair and other items. Generally speaking, Washington is a structurally sound building. Buildings of this era, however, vary in their approach to construction and require a complex renovation strategy that frequently uncovers additional issues.
One key analysis for the reuse of such a building is how flexible and adaptable the interior of the building is. Unfortunately, most of the interior walls are structurally load bearing along with several building additions over their life which make the building unflexible. Accessibility, inconsistent rooms size, difficult routing of new and modern systems, corridor and stair sizes all contribute to challenges in accommodating a modern learning environment equivalent to Roosevelt that meets the needs of today’s learners.
In a renovation scenario, there are significant site circulation issues due to the lack of adequate parking, bus lanes, or parent pick-up space that will remain and create challenges in addressing traffic flow issues currently impacting the Washington site.
5. Land acquisitions that may be needed.
The task force recommendation to the school board in February 2023 included options that worked within the existing site boundaries of the Washington site. The study found the site would not accommodate the significant addition needed, athletic fields, sufficient parking and traffic queuing space within the existing site constraints. Because of this, the task force recommended pursuing acquisition of six residential properties to provide adequate site amenities and a viable traffic solution in both the new or renovation/addition scenarios.
6. Mechanical updates planned as part of the renovation.
The renovation contemplated would have provided an entirely new mechanical system for the existing building to provide modern standards for climate control and air quality. Specific systems were not investigated and would occur during the schematic design portion of a selected project.
7. We request access to the physical reports from the School District. These should detail all components included in the estimate for renovating Washington Middle School.
All order-of-magnitude costs (early-stage, broad-scope cost approximations) developed throughout the study have been based on historical and real time cost information from Iowa projects of similar scopes and scales. The cost information for the renovated option was based on the building requiring a high level of renovation to not only refresh spaces, but to reconfigure many spaces throughout the building to support modern learning.
Cost evaluation in planning is based upon square foot precedent pricing. Assumptions for the Washington renovation vary with some areas higher and some lower. The average base cost per square foot assumption for renovation was $225 per square foot. New addition construction was estimated at $400 per square foot. These costs were vetted with precedent data as well as a local contractor and deemed to be appropriate for the local market. All costs shown add inflation assumption of 5% per year to the midpoint of construction.
Phasing costs for renovation while students are in the building are included. Within that estimating, there are still unknowns. Contingencies for messy renovation and additions are higher given the level of current planning and age of the building. Overall costs also include owner project costs in addition to construction that accommodate costs outside of the amount paid to the contractors including services, equipment, furniture, fees, permitting, moving, land acquisition, etc.
Overall, the initial upfront costs are about 90% of new construction costs and projected at $109.1 million. If we factor in typical life-cycle costs, which are more for an old building even when renovated, the cost of new construction is far less than the renovation and addition option over the life of the building.
8. What is the total number of students that Washington Middle School will need to accommodate after renovation?
In moving to two middle schools, the Washington site would need to have adequate learning facilities to educate approximately half of the district’s middle school students (approximately 1,000-1,100) with a modern learning environment, similar to facilities provided at Roosevelt.
9. Additionally, please provide data on the total number of students who have attended either Washington Junior High or Washington Middle School in any given year.
As was provided previously, attached you will find the historical enrollment of Washington Middle School dating back to the 1991-1992 school year, which is the data we have readily available. While our enrollment for this school year is not yet finalized, as of the first week of school, enrollment at Washington was at around 600 students.
From the data you’ll see that in the early 2000s, when Washington (then serving students in grades 7-8) saw enrollment exceeding 800 students, the district chose to move to a middle school model to balance enrollment and class sizes. Roosevelt Middle School was constructed to serve students in grades 6-8, and Washington and Jefferson moved to serving students in grades 6-8 at the same time. Elementary schools then moved to serving students in grades PreK-5.
While there is no standard school capacity calculation in Iowa, Washington’s physical capacity is estimated at 800 students. In practicality, that student headcount would lead to increased class sizes that become above the expected norm in middle school.
10. Does the proposed new structure take into account the declining enrollment numbers for Washington/Jefferson Middle School, in comparison to remodeling the current campus?
The proposed new school on the Washington site takes into account middle school enrollment trends, with a goal of creating a new school that will appropriately accommodate the number of current and projected middle school students in the district across two middle schools.
As was provided previously, because of constantly changing housing patterns, in-district transfer placements and open-enrollment requests, the district forecasts enrollment on a five-year basis by entire grade level rather than on a by-school basis.
These projections are based on the certified enrollment, which is the student count as of October 1 each year that is then certified by the state by October 31. We then move students as cohorts through the model year over year. This does not take into account new and exiting enrollments that may occur over the course of the year, but it allows for general cohort tracking.
We do not yet have our certified enrollment count for the current 2025-2026 school year for comparison, but here is the projected five-year cohort movement of grades 6 through 8 based on our 2024-2025 certified enrollment:
PROJECTED FIVE-YEAR ENROLLMENT BY MIDDLE SCHOOL GRADE
| 2025-2026 | 2026-2027 | 2027-2028 | 2028-2029 | 2029-2030 | |
| Grade 6 | 772 | 740 | 707 | 646 | 670 |
| Grade 7 | 685 | 772 | 740 | 707 | 646 |
| Grade 8 | 700 | 685 | 772 | 740 | 707 |
| TOTAL | 2,157 | 2,197 | 2,219 | 2,093 | 2,023 |
11. What is the current debt load for the district, and how will the proposed bond—combined with borrowing against the SAVE fund—affect the future ability to finance other structural improvements at additional schools?
The district currently has eight bond issuances outstanding for a total of $73,470,959.50 remaining to be paid. Some bonds will be paid off as early as July 2027 with the last bond issuance to be paid off in July 2044. These bonds are entirely funded through the SAVE funds that are already earmarked for the district over time and they DO NOT impact the district’s property tax levy rate.
If the bond referendum is approved (and already taking into account the current Eisenhower gymnasium/secure entryway project, the Irving HVAC/air conditioning project, and funds committed from SAVE for technology into the future), there will be $41 million in remaining SAVE capacity available for capital project needs in the future.
12. How would the renovation process affect student attendance, specifically regarding the need for students to attend a different school during the period of construction?
There is no place within the district to move the entire student population of Washington off site during a renovation. The approach would likely be to build new additions, move students over and renovate sections of the existing building in phases over several years. This would likely extend the length of the project over new construction by a year.
Again, I’m thankful for you reaching out for more information on the planning process and proposal.
The planning process we have engaged in since 2022 has continued to be iterative in nature and includes developing options and vetting them with a community-led task force to understand the viability and support. Since the bond referendum in 2023, we also spent significant time listening to our community, gathering feedback and using that feedback to inform our work. Hundreds of people have attended presentations, taken surveys and given input throughout the process.
Taking all of the information above and attached, building a new middle school on the Washington site has consistently been supported more than renovating and adding on to the existing building. This led to the ultimate recommendation to build a new school on the Washington site and continued work to further develop that option in more detail.