Certain circumstances have fueled discussion about gym space in Tracy; with $4.6M at its disposal, the school district sees an opportunity to fill a need, and will seek public input
There is no doubt the facilities at Tracy Area Public Schools are top notch and rival those in some neighboring towns. The problem is, there’s not enough space to go around.
That problem could be solved before the end of the decade, but, of course, it’s going to take money. The good news is, the district is sitting on $4.6 million, monies left over from the recent twoyear construction project that upgraded aging infrastructure in both public and private schools.
With the schools’ infrastructure issues in the rearview mirror, the district is looking ahead, and although nothing has been decided, there’s a good chance there is a solution to its space conundrum.
“It’s a big deal to a community our size,” TAPS Supt. Chad Anderson said this week. “The schools are the hub of the communities — Amiret, Garvin, Balaton, Currie, Milroy, Tracy, Lake Sarah, Lake Shetek. There are a lot of communities within our big community that have a stake in this.”
Talks have taken place that could lead to a new legacy-type, multi-floor auditorium that would incorporate each school district and their history (Scrappers, Spartans, Warriors and Panthers).
The decision on how to spend the $4.6 million will not be taken lightly and will come down to a group of people. First of all, Adam Snyder, Scot Bowman and Ashley Christiansen from the former Milroy School Board will be joining the current school board to form District No. 2913. The newcomers will have their say, just like current board members do. One of the reasons the district has yet to move forward with things, Anderson said, is because it wants to include input from those coming from Milroy.
“I’ve been in contact with them for months,” Anderson said. “We’ve been talking about our spaces, our facilities. This isn’t just ‘Hey, welcome in July,’ we’ve been including them in our conversations and making sure they’re well aware of everything for the last 18 months.”
‘
… we are going to include stakeholders — people from all communities — and make sure they’re all involved in the process.
— TAPS SUPT. CHAD ANDERSON Anderson noted that there are challenges with the gym space currently available:
• The Veterans Memorial Center in downtown Tracy, which the school district leases from the City of Tracy, has been a Godsend to the district, but it is off-campus, requiring students to drive; and there are well-known issues with antiquated restrooms and locker rooms.
• The Milroy School gym is no longer an option after consolidation and is now privately-owned.
• The gym in Balaton has served a purpose as well, but since the closing of the business once housed in the old school, the TAPS district is now just renting gym space there.
• The St. Mary’s gym does not have a full court.
• The gym at Tracy Area Elementary School is not a full gym.
• The high school gym was not designed to be, or intended to be, a full competition gym (it was designed as a PE gym).
Even though all those gyms have served a valuable purpose, Anderson envisions a centralized location when it comes to gym space, as opposed to all the options that are currently available. The district would still utilize the VMC, but a single venue would simplify everything.
“It’s wonderful to have Balaton, it’s wonderful to have had access to Milroy … if we can do some gyms on the south side of our campus … everyone comes here,” Anderson said. “Parents wouldn’t have to wonder, ‘Are they at St. Mary’s, are they at the VMC, are they at Balaton — where am I picking up my child today?’” Increasing gym space is not the only thing on the school district’s wish list.
Over at the elementary school, there have been discussions about some office reorganization, including creating a vestibule-like area for the main office, similar to the high school’s.
Another option for the elementary school building is building a cafeteria; currently, the gym doubles as the lunchroom.
“That way, instead of having to pick up tables in the morning, put them away, have PE, bring the tables back, we could have a separate cafeteria and the gym could be open all day long,” said Anderson. “Then our custodians aren’t constantly moving things.”
• The $4.6 million is available, Anderson said, because some of the bids for the infrastructure project came in lower than anticipated. Also, the bonds earned interest over two years since it was a two-year project (about half of the $4.6 million is from interest gained).
“We also held tight to our contingency funds; we didn’t go over what we were initially budgeting to spend,” said Anderson.
Since the $4.6 million is essentially taxpayer money, the public can chime in, too. Anderson said letters will be sent out in August as the district forms a community taskforce that will include ISG, which the district has hired along with RA Morton Construction Managers to help with the facility analysis process.
“Whatever we do, we are going to include stakeholders — people from all communities — and make sure they’re all involved in the process. We want to get ideas from everyone,” said Anderson. “That’s why you bring people in.”
Meetings involving community “influencers” will likely commence in September of this year and continue throughout the remainder of 2026.
“We’ve already listed 140 people in the area we’re going to ask to come in and see if they want to take part in the discussion,” said Anderson. “It’s people in the communities that maybe are plugged in to a lot of different organizations or talk to a lot of people. It’s going to include people in different stages of their life — retired people, people with young children, business owners, farmers.”
A preliminary timeline for the project includes a referendum vote on April 13, 2027.
