The School District of Waukesha is preparing to close two of its schools.
In a school board meeting on Wednesday, November 14, the board voted on a plan to close down Bethesda Elementary and Hawthorne Elementary schools. The board members ultimately approved the plan after lengthy discussion.
The decision also affects the Whittier Elementary school building, which will be sold off. The building is currently used by the district as a part of their elementary STEM educational opportunities. The STEM program will be transferred over to Horning Middle School, which will then house a larger K-8 STEM school program.
Further updates on how the plan will proceed are anticipated to come at the next district school board meeting on Wednesday, December 10.
The decision to close the schools and sell the building come in the wake of declining enrollment in the Waukesha School District. The hope is that this plan may allow for them to avoid making further budget cuts in the future and attendance continues to shrink.
This option will save the district about $3.5 million each year and will shrink their capacity by about 18%. Each year, the district sees about a 2.1% decline in enrollment. Currently, the district represents 10,395 students. Reducing their building capacities helps alleviate some of the financial burden around the dip.
There are additional options left open to sell more buildings in the future if needed. There is a chance they may eventually sell the Saratoga building, as well as both the White Rock and Pleasant Hill campuses.
The school board voted 8-1 in favor of closing the school, with Diane Voit being the sole no vote. There was about 3 hours of discussion before the vote took place with over 30 different parents and local residents speaking about the subject.
Concerns arose throughout the discussions over which buildings might close. Board members initially rejected an amendment to the plan that would have closed Lowell Elementary instead of Bethesda Elementary. Only two school board members voted in favor of the amendment.
The dual language programs offered at Bethesda and Hawthorne will be redispersed between Banting, Heyer, and Lowell. Their specific implementation will be determined according to enrollment levels.
