By Shereen Siewert
Members of the Wausau School Board on Monday will hear the district’s latest restructuring update and decide whether they will be ready to review a proposal for action later this month.
But school restructuring has been an emotional and complicated issue in Wausau for decades, including a divisive effort in the early 1990s. The program, which restructured six elementary schools to reduce racial disparities, prompted a recall election in which five school board members were tossed from their roles.
On Monday district officials will seek direction based on the anticipated costs, risks and benefits of a major restructuring plan that has been the subject of discussion for months. No single plan has been approved, but officials are floating the idea of closing five elementary schools, shifting grades 5-7 to Horace Mann and John Muir and re configuring the city’s two high schools to a single junior high for grades 8-9 and a senior high for grades 10-12.
If the district closes five elementary schools, two buildings could be sold while three would be repurposed. Of those, two would serve charter or alternative schools while a third could be a childcare center, according to the latest presentation materials.
District officials are defending their proposal with a list of possible measurable outcomes that include a goal to save $2 million in operational costs within five years, re-attract 239 open enrolled students, expand access to child care to 200 children, expand sports offerings and reduce future facility maintenance needs by as much as $15 million.
Critics say the restructuring comes with some risks including possible staff departures, increased open enrollment out of the district in the short term and the loss of cherished traditions – for example, the annual Log Game contest between the two high schools’ football teams. The School Board has so far been divided on the restructuring plan and in November asked for additional scenarios to consider.
“We owe it to our community to show a few more scenarios, with details,” Board Member Pat McKee said in late November. McKee, immediate past president of the school board, also said that he would support a plan only after all details are known and how staff, students and families will be impacted. He cited a hypothetical, but theoretically possible, scenario of a family having students at four different schools at the same time, and said officials need to consider all possibilities before approving a restructuring plan. The district has held several listening sessions since then.
Past controversies
Some residents say the discussion is reminiscent of the controversy that erupted in the 1990s, one that drew the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin and resulted in a successful recall election.
When the district’s so-called “partnering” plan was implemented in 1992, 600 children were bused up to 2.2 miles away from their neighborhood schools to ensure no schools were left with a minority enrollment of more than 32 percent, according to past school documents. Some parents were outraged. Soon, a group called Families Approve Neighborhood Schools emerged, gathering recall signatures.
Recall supporters said partnering would destroy the neighborhood school concept by giving parents less control, disrupting families, lowering the level of teaching to that of the neediest students and discouraging parental participation. The closer a student lives to their school, they reasoned, the more access the parents have to the resources at that school. School officials pushed back by saying their plan, which was not federally mandated, was aimed at achieving a better learning environment and equal opportunity to all students.
Divisions deepened when the school board initiated the busing, and again when voters recalled five board members, replacing them with a slate of anti-busing candidates.
Pushback continues
The current restructuring discussion is also drawing sharp criticism from some parents who say Superintendent Keith Hilts does not understand the community’s strong tie and commitment to its neighborhood schools. Wausau Pilot & Review received and published several letters to the editor in recent months questioning the rationale behind the process – and the money involved.
“As for the proposed restructuring plans, I cannot understand how any of it makes sense,” wrote Mary Shafarik, of Wausau. “First, closing neighborhood elementary schools will increase travel time and class size. It will also create a loss of the neighborhood community that is a large reason why people choose to live in the Wausau School District. Also, new 4k options? You just built and put money into the ‘4k Academies’ a few years ago. How is it financially responsible to simple throw that plan out and start new?”
The estimated project budget, not including facility costs, is set at about $1.35 million, which includes $100,000 in signage and branding costs, $30,000 in legal costs and $500,000 for uniforms and equipment with a new school name and mascot. But the budget includes “$0” for 1,200 employees investing an average of four hours of planning time during the work day. There is no explanation for that calculation.
One Wausau City Council member has also been vocal in denouncing the district and board for raising new discussions on school mergers despite a majority of people saying no to the idea, repeatedly.
School officials say families are already choosing to leave the district, a trend that will only continue “without systemic change.” Declining enrollment, they say, will lead to staffing and program reductions as well as a decrease in revenue.
Unclear is how the district would navigate any potential violations of the $120 million referendum approved in the April election. The funding and timeline for new facility construction approved by the Board of Education in June prioritized adding classrooms to Stettin, Hawthorn Hills, Riverview and South Mountain elementary schools, among other outcomes. According to the timeline, the design, bidding and construction processes are all to begin during this school year.
The Wausau School Board will review the latest information at 5 p.m. Jan. 9. See the meeting agenda and related materials here. A firm plan could be ready for review as early as Jan. 23.
