PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
MENASHA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The Menasha Joint School District is interested in purchasing the UW-Oshkosh Fox Cities campus — a roughly 40-acre plot of land.
Superintendent Matthew Zimmerman shared the district’s plan during Monday’s school board meeting.
“This is not a vision that the community can embrace, or that others don’t believe in. This is not a school-district-alone sort of initiative,” Zimmerman said during his presentation. “This is a community initiative.”
On Friday, the district announced plans to utilize the campus space in an effort to create additional childcare facilities.
“Our parents are talking about the need for childcare. Businesses are talking about the need for childcare, in terms of being able to recruit and retain high quality employees,” Zimmerman said before the meeting. “We really see this as an opportunity for us to meet a community need.”
Just last year, the district closed Jefferson Elementary due to a $3.5 million budget deficit. That’s a move that now has residents, like Menasha Alderperson Stan Sevenich, asking: How is purchasing the UWO-Fox Cities campus a smart move?
“You were trying to save $2 million before, and now all of the sudden, you want to buy a university,” Sevenich said during open comment. “And I’m hearing rumblings about the possibility of at-risk students, or for a daycare. You have Jefferson School for a daycare.”
Fox Crossing resident Steve Krueger echoed Sevenich’s thoughts.
“Now you’re looking at a university that two full counties with a population of 380,000 people are saying is not feasible for their budget, but a school district with 30,000 people in it is all of a sudden saying, ‘We can handle this,'” Krueger said.
The school board wouldn’t say how much, if any, taxpayer money would be used to purchase the property.
“I think again, we’re early on in the discussion, and I reject the notion that we’re spending significantly,” Zimmerman told us. He said discussions are still in early phase — but indicated private funding is an option.
“I think we have to have all options on the table. We have to work with private and public partners in order to make this vision a reality,” he explained. “What I hope folks are talking about is, whether or not it’s a good vision to have affordable childcare for every child that’s in the city of Menasha.”
The Outagamie County Property, Airport, Recreation and Economic Development Committee will be discussing the sale of the campus at its meeting Tuesday. Any decision will have to get approval from both Outagamie and Winnebago Counties.
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