Wausau School Bell. MWC photo by Mike Leischner
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau School Board heard the final presentation on a potential elementary school restructuring plan.
Consultant Mark Roffers presented the board with a plan to close Hewitt-Texas, Hawthorne Hills, Grant, and Lincoln Elementary Schools. Sending those students to nearby schools including Riverview, John Marshall, Franklin, and G D Jones.
Board members thanked the task force for their work, which began last spring and continued through the fall. “These are not easy decisions,” said Board President Jim Bouche. “They are tough decisions that have to be made. We can’t simply kick the can down the road, as has been done in the past.”
Members of the task force agreed, saying the group had an “ah-ha” moment in early September. “It started with ‘that’s my school,’ and then it became ‘that’s my district,'” said one member who spoke up from the audience during Monday’s meeting.
Another described that moment as a “culture change” for the task force, saying the district needs to move forward with these decisions. “I would hate to lose [the momentum we have built.] We talked about ripping the band-aid off. The problem with the district in the past may have been that we didn’t do that.
“It was an ah-ha moment- when people understood that this is the future of our district, where we want to be, and how we are going to get there. We need to go now, we just don’t have time to wait,” they added.
Roffers noted that Hawthorne Hills and Hewitt-Texas are two of the smallest schools in the district. Enrollment and population trends don’t indicate that will change, as both schools are on the district’s outer edges with little to no residential development planned in their boundaries. He also noted that the district currently has about 1,100 empty seats in 13 elementary schools. That number is projected to grow to 1,300 by 2027.
The task force also advised the district to improve schools that would receive students including John Marshall and Franklin Elementary. Both require HVAC upgrades including air conditioning.
Monday’s presentation was informational only. The task force will have one additional meeting to finalize numbers and other data points before the board will make a final decision on the issue at a future meeting
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