Green Bay Area Public School District building. (IMAGE: Courtesy of Fox 11 WLUK)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The school board for the Green Bay Area Public School District made decisions on several measures GBAPS says would cut costs.
Some of the main topics of discussion at Monday night’s school board meeting included the fate of the pool at Edison Middle School, potential changes to the district’s insurance policies, cutting specialty programs like fine arts and a possible referendum to deal with another budget shortfall.
The school board voted to close the pool at Edison Middle School and turn it into an auxiliary gym. According to the district, “The Edison Middle School pool operates at an annual loss of approximately $52,000 to $55,000, excluding impending capital costs.”
Included in the recommendation to the board, the district cites the following findings:
- Low student participation in physical education swimming
- Limited instructional time
- Staffing constraint
- Inefficiency in PE rotations
The district says the auxiliary gym would help with scheduling needs for basketball, volleyball and wrestling.
Additionally, changes to health care insurance plans are coming for district staff.
The board voted to approve the following modifications to increase the premium rate for the medical plan:
- 2.23% increase for the Active Employee $1,500 Deductible Copay Plan
- 6.99% increase for the Active Employee HSA-Qualified HDHP
- 2.23% increase for all retiree medical plans
Also, according to GBAPS, “The District will contribute 85% of active employee medical premiums, with employees responsible for the remaining 15%, regardless of plan selection, contingent upon completion of the annual wellness exam.”
Currently, employees are responsible for 12%.
However, school board members voted against trimming voluntary short-term disability benefits. It was a contentious issue, with the board acknowledging the need to cut down the budget, but finding it to be an extremely difficult endeavor.
“I also know that we’re having to make very important decisions. I’ve heard it said tonight: It’s not our fault we’re not being funded properly,” said board trustee Jeanette Knill. “I’m going to vote for this because we need to cut somewhere. I don’t like it, but we need to make some hard decisions here.”
Another trustee, Samantha Meister, added, “I think the change to this benefit has been swift and I am worried that by removing this, our staff doesn’t even know what they’re losing. They don’t need it until they need it. I can’t support cost-saving for the potential for our staff.”
A complete list of the changes recommended by the district can be found in this attached file.
Declining enrollment, lower-than-budgeted state aid for special education and other factors have contributed to GBAPS’ budget problem.
According to a Feb. 9 memo to school board from Superintendent Vicki Bayer, initial projections for next year’s budget started with a deficit of $12.5 million. The district has said that figure is now closer to $8 million.
Looking beyond the next academic year, the situation for 2027-28 is vastly different due to the end of funding from the operational referendum passed in 2017. The projected deficit is approximately $24-$32 million for the 2027-28 school year.
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