Wauwatosa School District considering closing two elementary schools as a way to address a budget shortfall.

Alec Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·4 min read
Washington Elementary School, at 2166 N 68th St., is named after George Washington. It's one of two schools being considered for closure.
Washington Elementary School, at 2166 N 68th St., is named after George Washington. It's one of two schools being considered for closure.

The Wauwatosa School District is considering the closure of two elementary schools, but has made "no definite plans to close any school at this time," according to an Oct. 24 letter sent to Washington and Jefferson elementary school parents.

The same information was also shared in an Oct. 25 letter to all district staff and parents.

Here is more information about the possible closures.

Why were the schools identified for closure?

Wauwatosa School District Superintendent Demond Means' letter to the two elementary schools' parents and staff said the district's Tosa 2075 Task Force said facilities is "one of the many areas" the task force has been looking at.

The letter said that the physical condition of the Washington and Jefferson elementary buildings was a reason the two were identified for potential closure. Both buildings were identified as needing rebuilding during the district's 2018 referendum process, but were not selected.

"The deferred maintenance costs and evident physical needs of the buildings have only been exacerbated since the schools were not selected for significant renovations or reconstruction in 2018," Means' letter said.

In 2018, Wauwatosa School District voters approved a $124.9 million referendum that heavily focused on new buildings for Underwood and McKinley elementary schools and undertaking major renovations at Lincoln and Wilson/WSTEM elementary schools.

Means also wrote that a lack of funding from the state Legislature has led the district "to explore alternative funding options to maintain the standard of education that our Wauwatosa community expects."

Means said in his Oct. 25 letter that the district faces a more than $9 million budget shortfall for the 2024-25 school year.

Ongoing building maintenance costs and budget constraints is leading the district to work with the Tosa 2075 Task Force to look at whether the district has "the financial resources to maintain nine elementary schools," he said.

How are parents reacting?

The Jefferson Elementary PTA released a statement Oct. 25 that said news of the school's possible closure "was hard to read, hard to process, and nearly impossible to talk about with our littles."

"We're heartbroken for our school, anxious about what this means for our community and angry at the district's callous and cowardly communication," the statement said.

The PTA said the news was "a complete surprise" to both parents and the school's teachers and staff.

"As much as our teachers and our PTA would love to share more details, there is simply a lot yet unknown to us. But rest assured we are hard at work talking and meeting with people involved in all facets of this decision making process," the statement added.

It encouraged parents to tell district administration how they feel, as well as to reach out to local elected officials to "let them know what the loss of this school would mean to to our local, walkable community."

In an Oct. 26 interview, PTA President Emily Bilot said, "I'm really sad about what it would mean for my kids. I'm really sad about what it means for my community and for all the families in our school and really, really sad for the staff and teachers that are still committed to our school and still committed to our kids and our neighborhood."

Administrators listed with the Washington Elementary School PTA's private Facebook page did not immediately respond to reporter's messages seeking comment.

School District communications coordinator Sarah Ellis said in an email that the intention of the district's communication was "to proactively inform stakeholders instead of having them learn of these strictly preliminary models through rumor or hearsay."

What is the Tosa 2075 Task Force?

The task force is tasked with bringing recommendations to the school board in the areas of:

  • Facilities.

  • Impact of interdistrict enrollment such as classroom space needs and student enrollment patterns.

  • Transportation services.

  • Long-term financial strategy.

The district invited community members to participate on the task force. The group has been meeting since July.

Means said the district wanted to be proactive and transparent about the task force's process by sharing what the group has been discussing.

Discussions included increasing revenue through an operational revenue and reducing expenses by scaling down the district's building footprint or increasing class sizes.

Means said several scenarios have been presented to the task force, including "minimizing the number of students impacted by a potential school closure; maximizing savings of deferred maintenance/new school construction costs and minimizing transportation costs."

When will the task force bring its final recommendations to the school board?

The task force is scheduled to present its final recommendations to the board in spring. The board can accept, reject or modify the task force's recommendations.

The board plans to hold listening sessions with the community starting in May. Final decisions are expected to be made by August.

Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wauwatosa School District considering closing two elementary schools