Green Bay Schools Facilities Task Force finalizes recommendations for 12 building closures
GREEN BAY ― The Green Bay School District's Facilities Task Force finalized its recommendations for 12 building closures and the construction of a new elementary school at its final meeting Tuesday.
The task force narrowed down the proposals from two to one, landing on Plan 12, at its April 5 meeting. It will formally present the plan to the School Board May 8 and spent Tuesday's meeting developing the presentation.
Originally, 12 proposals had been in play. The task force has been working since January with architecture firm ATSR to develop plans for redrawing boundaries and potentially closing schools.
The board will make final decisions over the summer as it works to address the district's declining enrollment, $20 million deficit and maintenance needs.
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What schools are likely to close?
Beaumont Elementary
District Office Building
Doty Elementary
Elmore Elementary
Keller Elementary
Kennedy Elementary
Leonardo da Vinci School for Gifted Learners
MacArthur Elementary
Dr. Rosa Minoka-Hill
Tank Elementary
Washington Middle
Wequiock Children's Center for Environmental Science
My child's school is recommended to close. Where will my child go to school?
The new school boundaries have not been decided and the task force is recommending the board create a boundary committee to figure out exactly which households would move to which schools.
Based on the recommended plan, kids who currently go to Keller, Kennedy and MacArthur would go to the new west-side elementary that would be built.
For Beaumont Elementary students, they would go to Jackson Elementary or to the repurposed Franklin K-8. Elmore Elementary students would go to the repurposed Franklin.
Doty Elementary kids would go to either Eisenhower Elementary or the repurposed Langlade K-8.
Students at Tank Elementary would go to Fort Howard Elementary, and the students at Washington Middle would go to the repurposed Langlade or Edison Middle.
Wequiock students would feed into Red Smith K-8.
What other changes will there be?
Under the proposed plan, West High would remain a high school, but it would be repurposed to also house the district headquarters and the John Dewey Academy of Learning.
The John Dewey Academy of Learning building would also be repurposed for the district headquarters.
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Lincoln Elementary would be repurposed as the alternative school for the students currently at Minoka-Hill. Students at Lincoln would move to the repurposed Franklin K-8.
Webster Elementary would become the new gifted school, replacing Leonardo da Vinci. Students at Webster would feed into Eisenhower Elementary or the repurposed Langlade K-8.
Franklin Middle, Langlade Elementary and McAuliffe Elementary would be repurposed as a K-8 school to accommodate changing boundaries.
About 16 buildings would get some combination of gym additions, secure entries or more classrooms to accommodate consolidations.
How much will it cost and when is this happening?
The total cost of this project, including the cost of consolidation, is $293 million. The 10-year operational cost of this plan is about $3 billion, which meets the goal of reducing the district's operational costs by 10%.
It would also require a referendum to fund the costs of the west-side new elementary and other school building maintenance and renovations.
The board plans to vote on final building decisions in June as part of the district's 10-year facility plan.
Implementation of the recommendations wouldn't begin until after the 2023-24 school year, according to the district's facilities master plan webpage.
A building being recommended to close doesn't mean the programs housed in that building will be cut. The plans include repurposing other schools to accommodate programs that are housed in buildings that might close.
Is there a chance for me to give input?
The district is hosting a public forum and table top discussion opportunities. The table top discussions will start with a presentation of the task force recommendations by the architecture firm helping develop the plans, ATSR.
These discussions will be held in small groups, facilitated by ATSR. Notes of the discussions will be shared with the board.
Here are the dates, times and locations of the discussions:
5:30 p.m. May 9 at West High School.
5:30 p.m. May 10 at East High School.
A public forum will be held from 4-7 p.m. May 24 at Washington Middle School.
Speakers must sign up during the forum and will have three minutes to share feedback with the board.
The forum will last until everyone who signed up has a chance to speak, according to the district's website.
There is also a feedback form community members can fill out with questions about the recommendations.
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 Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay Schools task force finalizes recommendations for 12 closures
