NEENAH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Administrators with the Neenah Joint School District are considering the closure of one of the district’s elementary schools. The school board is likely to vote on Feb. 20 to close Hoover Elementary.
In 2020, Neenah passed a $115 million referendum and subsequently implemented a new school facilities plan. That plan includes a full boundary revision and the closure of Hoover.
“It’s smaller and so we thought this was an appropriate time to have the conversation about closing this building and dispersing those kids amongst really what are three schools that have been involved in that boundary division,” Neenah District Assistant Administrator Chad Buboltz said.
The idea is to more efficiently make use of the schools that have open space for students.
“Horace Mann Elementary, which has room to accommodate,” Buboltz said. “It’s using about 60% of its classroom space right now. As well as Coolidge Elementary, which is using 80%.”
District officials say closing Hoover Elementary would save about $400,000 to 600,000 annually, and that doesn’t include operating costs for the building.
“We’re not anticipating job cuts, though any positions that would be transitioned out of a closed school would be filled due to retirements and attrition,” Buboltz said.
Several districts throughout Northeast Wisconsin have closed elementary schools over the last few years due to declining enrollment and budget issues. On Tuesday night, school officials in Menasha met with parents of students at Jefferson Elementary, which is slated for closure.
“We’re experiencing a budget deficit that’s come as a result declining enrollment and state aid not keeping up with enrollment, so we can no longer afford to maintain this school,” Menasha Superintendent Matt Zimmerman said.
But declining enrollment isn’t the case in Neenah, according Buboltz.
“It’s where we’re seeing our enrollment increase, so we know that there has been an increase on the south end of our district where we have immediate needs for some of those boundary revisions.”
Buboltz said they’ve hosted six community meetings prior to providing an update during Tuesday’s board meeting, meaning they’re confident moving ahead.
“Our district views this as a really collaborative process. Not everyone’s going to get what they want, but we’ve really worked hard over the last six months to incorporate their feedback. We’ll begin in earnest then transitioning out, if it were to pass, transitioning out of Hoover, shifting our boundaries. That work begins as soon as the board approves it.”
District officials said they’ve discussed what will happen next with Hoover if the closure goes through as anticipated. They didn’t offer specific details, but there are no plans to sell the property.
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