Governor Evers Seeks More for Education; Some Wisconsin Administrators Proposing Closing Schools

Friday, February 17th, 2023 -- 8:12 AM

(By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio) As Gov. Tony Evers seeks billions for education, some administrators are proposing to close schools within their districts amid ongoing challenges with declining enrollment and state aid.

According to Danielle Kaeding with Wisconsin Public Radio, Evers is proposing $2.6 billion in state funding for K-12 schools, calling it the largest investment in per pupil aid in more than 25 years.

The proposal is $1 billion more than what Evers sought under the last budget, which Republican lawmakers scaled back by roughly $800 million. GOP legislative leaders have already indicated they plan to toss out much of Evers’ plans and write their own budget from scratch.

As Evers unveils his plan, the Wausau School Board voted 7-2 this week in favor of a proposal to restructure the school district. The plan would close five of the district’s 13 elementary schools.

The proposal would also merge its two high schools into a junior and senior high campus, as well as reconfigure the district’s middle schools to grades 5 through 7 by fall of 2025.

"We're experiencing a number of challenges (fiscal, declining enrollment, staffing challenges) all those things combined together," Wausau Schools Superintendent Keith Hilts said. "And while the Wausau School District is a very good district, we believe that we can be much better if we consolidate our resources, if we merge our elementaries and if we create a single high school from our current to high school structure."

According to the district, Wausau schools have lost around 700 students over the last two decades from about 8,600 students in the 2002-03 school year to 7,873 students for the current academic year.

The loss of students has decreased the amount of aid under revenue limits by $7 million each year moving forward. Wausau isn’t the only district looking at closing schools.

The Superior School District recently announced officials are beginning to review whether to close one of its six elementary schools.

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