Firm suggests closing MacArthur Elementary, plus other takeaways from Green Bay schools facility plan

GREEN BAY ― Demolishing MacArthur Elementary and completing over $400 million worth of maintenance costs were some of the recommendations presented to the Green Bay School Board Monday by a consulting firm hired to evaluate the district's facilities.

ATSR, an architecture and building consulting firm from Minnesota, was tasked with assessing the conditions of the district's 42 buildings and what it would cost to maintain them for the next three decades.

ATSR's contract with the district is for about $150,000. The firm's findings and recommendations will help inform a community Facilities Task Force and the board on school boundary, closure or addition decisions as the district makes long-term decisions about its buildings.

"This is also a once in a generation opportunity for us to make sure that, while we're being fiscally responsible and we're doing it with respect to the funds that communities invested with us, there's also opportunities to really reshape some issues," said board member Bryan Milz.

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The firm also evaluated school building capacities and how well those align with projected student enrollments. With 42 buildings and a steadily declining enrollment, the district won't be able to fill all the seats in the next decade, ATSR's Chuck Holden said.

"It's no secret that we do have some older buildings that need some work," said Josh Patchak, the district's chief operations officer. "We do have some enrollment changes, and we have a lot of schools. We have a lot of very small schools. It is very costly to operate schools that are not full. That's just what it comes down to."

Along with maintenance needs and building capacities, the costs needed to update the district's schools to align with today's learning standards were evaluated. Termed in the report as "future ready learning environments" the firm looked at whether Green Bay's schools have different types of spaces for learning, natural light, comprehensive security systems and ways to promote school pride. None of the costs to for these updates were included in the maintenance price tag.

There are hundreds of pages in the facilities report, and to review them yourself, you can visit the Green Bay Area Public School District's Facilities Master Plan webpage. But to save you some time, here are five key takeaways:

The consulting firm recommends demolishing MacArthur Elementary.

ATSR went to every building in the district and evaluated its conditions, categorizing maintenance needs as low, medium or high priority. Considering the building's high priority maintenance needs and poor layout of the classrooms, ATSR told the board Monday it recommends demolishing MacArthur Elementary, 1331 Hobart Drive.

"There are several conditions in the building that are very, very difficult to correct. You have some foundation settlement occurring there from some soil conditions going on," said Nancy LaBissoniere, a partner with ATSR. "It's just crazy the amount of settlement in that building."

The cost of demolishing the building is estimated to be $936,000.

While the consulting firm suggested closing the school, the board hasn't made any decisions about closures or boundary changes and won't until the task force makes its recommendations in May.

Maintaining all 42 buildings could cost $403 million over the next 30 years.

Over the next three decades, the cost of addressing the maintenance needs from low to high priority would be over $403 million. If the district were to just fix medium to high priority facility repairs and updates, it would cost about $232 million, according to ATSR's estimates.

These costs include neither the firm's the suggestions to update schools for modern learning such as additions for more space nor the 2022 $92.6 million referendum funding.

Schools will only use 67% of their capacity by 2033.

As enrollment continues to decline in the school district and across Wisconsin, Green Bay's school buildings will be less and less full. ATSR predicts that by 2033, enrollment will be 67% of the district's "ideal capacity," on average. The firm calculates the ideal capacity of a building as 90% of the maximum a school can hold.

"You're investing money in space that you don't need, and it's time to take a good look at where you can better utilize that space, make improvements to spaces and then potentially cut back on some of these spaces," Holden said.

Wisconsin's birth rate has trended downwards since the 1950s and with other educational options available besides public school, district's throughout the state are seeing more empty seats, including Green Bay.

Sullivan Elementary, Lombardi Middle and all the high schools have the highest maintenance costs.

A few of the 42 buildings stand out with pricey fixes totaling over upwards of $15 million to tackle the medium and high priority issues. Sullivan Elementary has the most expensive maintenance issues of the elementary schools with an estimated $15 million in updates and repairs.

Lombardi takes the cake for middle schools with just under $15 million in fixes.

As larger buildings, the district's four high schools have higher costs in general. Preble is looking at about $28 million to cover high and medium priority fixes. Southwest could cost $24 million, East about $18 million and West around $16 million.

Some Green Bay school buildings are nearing 100 years old.

Lots of Green Bay school buildings are historic with some nearing 100 years old from the date of original construction.

Howe Elementary was originally constructed in 1912, and Fort Howard was built in 1931. The Elmore Elementary School building was built in 1939, and the Jefferson Head Start Learning Center is housed in a building from 1928.

Having so many older buildings contributes to higher costs of maintenance.

What happens next with Green Bay school buildings?

The next step is for the Facilities Task Force to take the findings from ASTR and make recommendations on whether to close schools, make additions or redraw school boundaries.

The task force is made of 27 community members recruited by the district who will meet nine times to discuss what changes need to be made, if any, to school buildings in the Green Bay area.

The meetings are open to the public for observation, and the first will be held from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at Baird Elementary School, 539 Laverne Drive.

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The task force is independent from the school district, the board and ASTR, though it will be facilitated by the consulting firm.

A list of meeting dates, times and locations can be found on the district's Facilities Mast Plan webpage.

The task force will present its recommendations, if they make any, to the board in May with decisions about school buildings being made by the board over the summer.

Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at dduclos@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @danielle_duclos. You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Dr, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Demolish MacArthur school, other takeaways from Green Bay schools plan