Wausau School Board Instructs Administrator to Look Into Hiring Demographer to Examine Elementary Structure

Friday, December 22nd, 2023 -- 10:00 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) The Wausau Board of Education has instructed the district’s Administration team to look into hiring a demographer to examine its elementary school structure.

According to Mike Leischner with WSAU, Board Member John Creisher says that’s one area where the district can increase efficiencies by decreasing its footprint, something that taxpayers are clamoring for.

“Constituents[are telling me] we should be lowering taxes. We aren’t going to do that with 13 elementary facilities. Especially aging ones- that we have to heat and cool, [perform] snow removal, replacing roofs and plumbing. All the other things that go into maintaining 13 facilities.”

Demographers examine statistics and trends related to population. Board Member Karen Vandenberg says that’s valuable information. “I would prefer to see a more thorough look, through a demographer, that looks at specific neighborhoods, at growth, at construction.”

Vandenberg also notes that the district’s current population data is from before the COVID-19 pandemic set in, meaning it shouldn’t be considered accurate. “I don’t want this to be a guess with pre-pandemic numbers.”

Creisher adds that the district doesn’t need a consultant to tell them that population and birth rates are trending down. That information has been well-established and was one of the reasons for the initial decision to consolidate East and West High into one with a Junior and Senior High campus.

Board members voted to reverse that decision in late November after it was discovered that the district didn’t have enough science lab space to support the move. The plan was also met with significant community backlash.

Lance Trollop noted that enlisting a demographer would help them decide if changing boundaries would be their most effective route toward restructuring the elementary schools. It would also help them bypass the referendum process.

“We can do this without referendum if we have boundary changes. If we do go that route, I think it would be good to have a consultant to help us study those boundaries and make recommendations.

“I think getting the demographer would be good. Then maybe somebody for boundaries, if that’s the direction we want to go. If we want to go the referendum route, add on to schools so we can combine two together and not have big boundary shifts- I don’t know what a consultant would tell us. We kind of know which buildings those would have to be,” added Trollop.

Hilts noted that he could bring more information on potential demographers back to the board during their next meeting on January 8th.

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