Four Wausau Elementary Schools Approved To Close

WAUSAU, Wis. (WXCO) – The Elementary Facility Plan Citizen Task Forces recommendations were unanimously approved to consolidate schools in the District.

The Wausau School Board unanimously approved the plan to close four elementary schools. Those include Hewitt-Texas, Hawthorn Hills, Lincoln, and Grant. This academic year will be the last at those locations. 

“These places are where you, your kids have learned and made life long friends. Grew from little kids to adults.” explained Consultant Mark Roffers from the Elementary Facility Plan Citizen Task Force. He explained that there were 11-hundred empty seats across the District. And that number is projected to grow as high as 13-hundred in the next few years if there are no changes. “It’s not a happy message, but it’s a message towards sustainability, for the District going forward.”

The task force spent nearly 24 hours in meetings crafting their plans. This takes a footprint of 13 elementary schools down to 9. 

“The buildings within the District are getting older. If you combine all the deferred maintenance needs across all 13 elementary schools, you get a really big number, nearly 25-million projected across the projected 10 year time horizon from now.” said Roffers.

Driven by demographic. Families are not having as many kids as they were 15 or 20 years ago. With no large influx of population into the community. 

“I’ve worked for a number of school districts throughout the state. Many of them are declining in enrollment, have excess building capacity, aging buildings and are facing budget situations similar to what you are, sometimes it’s helpful to know that this is not an isolated case.” Roffers explained.

Students in closing schools will be absorbed by other nearby schools including Riverview, John Marshall, Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson.

Lincoln Elementary will be converted to a 4K facility for students on the east side of the Wisconsin River.

President Jim Bouche suggested holding off on a vote until the board’s next meeting on Monday, January 13th. But the rest of the board said they didn’t need more information on the proposal and didn’t see value in waiting.