Ramirez Foundation plans voucher school at Cardinal Stritch campus, extending Aug Prep

By fall 2025, Cardinal Stritch University’s former campus could become the north side counterpart to St. Augustine Preparatory Academy on Milwaukee’s south side.

The Ramirez Family Foundation, which funds Christian schools including St. Augustine, bought the 43-acre campus for $24 million this summer, without immediately sharing plans for the property. Gus Ramirez co-chairs the foundation, and his daughter Abby Andrietsch runs St. Augustine, known as Aug Prep.

Ramirez said he envisions up to 5,000 students ultimately being "under the St. Augustine banner," with about 2,500 at each campus. Ramirez shared plans for the campus Tuesday while celebrating the unveiling of a $49 million new building on the south side St. Augustine campus, which will serve a growing number of elementary students as dozens still sit on a waitlist.

"Since we started the school, we have indicated to visitors that one of our goals was to establish a model of education that could be replicated not only in Milwaukee or Wisconsin but throughout the country," Ramirez said.

The Ramirez Family Foundation has funded Christian schools throughout Central America. In the U.S., the focus has been Milwaukee because the region is home to Husco, the manufacturing company Ramirez led for decades. Profits from the company built the foundation and continue to sustain it.

Here's what we know about the plans for the Cardinal Stritch campus.

Cardinal Stritch dorms will be replaced with fields

Ramirez said the foundation has already begun work to demolish the dormitory buildings by the end of the year, which will become green spaces and athletic fields.

He said the new school will use the other existing buildings, and he doesn't plan on any new construction. The 43.5-acre campus features 12 buildings totaling 607,000 square feet in Fox Point and Glendale.

Ramirez estimated it will cost at least $10 million to transform the campus initially, and potentially another $5 million as the school grows. He anticipated being able to host summer programming as soon as next summer, with school beginning as early as fall 2025.

The school will start with grades kindergarten through third grade, and sixth through 12th grades, Ramirez said, and eventually expand to serve all grades.

New school could include more suburban and tuition-paying students

Ramirez said the school could draw Milwaukee students as well as suburban students, with potentially 30%-50% of students paying tuition — a departure from the current campus on the south side, where 99% of students do not pay tuition. The school receives most of its funding for those students through tax-funded vouchers, with the remainder covered by donations.

Students qualify for vouchers if their family's income falls under certain levels.

Ramirez said the school would not provide bus transportation, leaving students to get rides or use public transportation.

The organization has not yet decided how much to charge for tuition, Ramirez said. He said he believes all students' families should have to pay some of the tuition amount, but state rules don't allow schools to collect tuition from students who bring the school tax-funded vouchers.

Ramirez said he wants the new campus to be more diverse than the current campus. According to the most recent state data, about 92% of students were Hispanic or Latino in the 2021-22 school year. He said he envisions the new campus serving more Black students and white students, specifically including students from Ozaukee County because of the lack of local private high schools.

Ramirez said he would like the campuses to have joint activities, like theater and sports, to bring students together.

"There's an opportunity to create this social maturity that comes through working, competing side by side with students of different races," he said. "That's one of our primary goals."

Ramirez says public schools have seen 'the woke coming in'

Ramirez said while he and his children attended public schools, he may not make the same choice now because "there's just a lot of stuff happening in public schools that would be upsetting to us if our younger kids were exposed to it," including sexual education.

"We hold firm to the biblical description of family at this school," he said. "That doesn't mean all teachers and all staff are part of a nuclear family, but we strongly believe that nuclear family generates a lot better student outcomes ... Some will say that we're too conservative, but for the most part our teachings are just aligned with Scripture."

Ramirez said families may be looking for a Christian alternative to public schools, which he said have seen "the woke coming in."

When the Journal Sentinel asked Ramirez to explain what he considered to be "woke," Andrietsch told him not to "engage" in the question.

In Mequon, a former school board member has been working to start a "non-woke" private school that would also serve the North Shore.

Ramirez said he decided to buy Stritch after lawmakers increased voucher amounts

Ramirez said he's been dreaming of a north side location for Aug Prep for five years, but it was difficult to find a property that wouldn't cost too much to make useable for a school. He was looking at needing to invest over $150 million.

The Cardinal Stritch campus, with its existing infrastructure, made it much more affordable, Ramirez said. But he waited to finalize the deal until Republican lawmakers succeeded in increasing the amount of funding that private schools receive for each student that is part of a voucher program.

"I delivered it only when the new funding formula was created and passed," Ramirez said. "Otherwise, we would have been facing a gap of funding of well over $10 million with the two schools, and we just couldn't afford that."

Lawmakers increased voucher amounts by over 20% for this school year, providing about $12,800 for each older student and $10,300 for each younger student. Andrietsch said St. Augustine spends about $11,000 to $12,000 educating each student, making up the difference with private donations.

The voucher funds will not be used for construction but for operational costs, Ramirez said. He said his foundation will be joined by other donors to pay for the costs of the campus.

About 28,958 students used vouchers to attend 129 private schools in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program in the 2022-23 school year, according to state data. The cost of the program, about $241 million for the last school year, has grown over the years with rising enrollment and voucher amounts.

Opponents of voucher schools say they draw funding away from public schools, which, unlike private schools, are required to provide costly special education services and transportation. About 8% of students at St. Augustine have disabilities and individualized education plans, Andrietsch said. At MPS, it's about 19%.

Contact Rory Linnane at rory.linnane@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @RoryLinnane. 

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Cardinal Stritch slated for voucher school extension of Aug Prep