RC Superintendent Tidbits
By: Mark Otten
Have you ever heard the saying about kicking the can down the road? Rock County Public Schools have done this
with some of the facility projects, with good reason, but the can is about at the end of the dead-end road. The
school boards, superintendents, and staff have done a great job of getting as much out of our facilities as they
possibly could without pouring money into them. At the high school, we have a portion of the building that was
built around 1960 that hasn’t had much put into it for maintenance. It has held up very well for the age of the
building but there are systems starting to fail. I have mentioned this in previous articles but I cannot tell you all
enough, it is time to update that part of the building to make it safer, more secure, and more usable for our
students and staff.
The school board will be giving me direction in the next month or two of where they would like me to lead the
facilities discussion. If facilities are your cup of tea, or even if they are not, you might be interested in attending
school board meetings over the next month or two. There will be decisions made on what direction to lead the
district when it comes to facilities. Ultimately, the decisions made will determine our next steps which will include
financing decisions. Tobin Buchanan with First National Capital Markets presented financing information at this
month’s board meeting in order to inform us of options for various projects. Those financing options include lease
to purchase, QCPUF bonds, or school bonds. The scope of the possible projects and the approval of the board and
the community will decide where we go with it.
If you have questions about anything within our facilities or you would like to take a tour of them, please reach out
to me at the school. I am more than willing to take you around and show you what we currently have in place and
also visit with you about possible solutions to our facilities issues.