Building for the future - Heartland Energy

Colman-Egan breaks ground for expansion

By Wren Murphy, Madison Daily Leader; Originally published Oct 2, 2024; reprinted with permission

Colman-Egan School District broke ground on Sept. 25 for a $4.2 million expansion which will give the district extra classrooms to serve a growing student population.

The expansion will add a preschool room, six new classrooms, a flexible learning space and a weight room, with a planned opening at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year. The estimated completion time is early summer 2025, which is the same time the elementary bathroom will undergo a remodel with a planned opening at the same time as the expansion.

Superintendent Scott Hemmer said the expansion will help the district continue growing. The current building does not meet the needs of its growing student population.

Five or six years ago, Hemmer said, Colman-Egan began gaining students, going from an average of 250 students to a total of 327 from grades kindergarten through 12 as of Sept. 30, 2024.

Colman-Egan School Board President Kirsten Taggart and Principal Scott Hemmer visit during the groundbreaking ceremony. Photo courtesy CEHS.

“We had about 250 students for about 10 years, and all of a sudden we started gaining students, and all of a sudden, last year, we were up to 300 students,” he said.

Hemmer attributes this growth to several factors, including families moving into both Colman and Egan as new houses have been built, and an increase in open enrollment students, or students who don’t live inside the district but request to become part of it. This growth has affected all parts of the district, he said.

This year, the district split its 35-student kindergarten class.

“We had to get creative for classrooms and how to make it work. We just don’t have rooms to split classes anymore,” he said. “We’re full, basically.”

The bidding period opened in August for construction, with initial estimates saying the project could be $6.3 million.

The competitive bidding process had 14 contractors throw their hat in the ring, and the district went with the under $4.2 million bid from Puetz Design and Build. ISG Inc. is the design and engineering firm.

“We would like to say our timing on the bidding was perfect for getting a good price on the project,” he said.

At this time, the plan is to have the six new classrooms serve mostly upper-elementary school students. The current preschool room will be repurposed, and the preschool class will be moved to the expansion. The weight room will also be used as a general workout area, he said.

The flexible learning space, which is a non-traditional classroom, will be open for all classes to use. It will have options like flexible seating not available in current classrooms. It is the first of its type in the Colman-Egan School District, but this type of room is becoming more common across other districts, Hemmer said.

“The options are kind of endless for what it can be used for,” he said.

The current elementary bathroom will begin renovation the day after school gets out, Hemmer said.

With the early summer completion date for the expansion, Hemmer believes there will be enough time to put the finishing touches on the area.

When the board and district began discussing the expansion several years ago, the initial plans only had three or four classrooms. Hemmer said he was glad to see the increase, which he believes strikes a balance in planning for the future and responsible growth.

The current high school and junior high was constructed in 2002, with the elementary school being built in 1976, he said. Between having buildings under 50 years old and a new expansion, he said the district might see another increase in enrollment.

With the expansion and growing enrollment, Hemmer said the district might move enrollment dates up earlier in the spring. Having an estimate on the number of students will help plan for adding new teachers and staff to the district to serve them.

“The big thing is, it’s going to allow our district to continue to grow,” Hemmer said. “I just think it’s going to attract more students and families to our school, and we want to welcome anyone who wants to be here at Colman-Egan.”