GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – An open records request is showing the Green Bay Area Public School District invested $26.9 million over the past 10 years in buildings that a community task force recommended to close.
The recommendation to close 12 district buildings is still in play as the district faces a $20 million budget deficit for the 2024-25 school year and a projected enrollment decline of about 12% over the next decade.
The Green Bay Area Public School District invested $26.9 million over the past 10 years in buildings that a community task force recommended to close June 6, 2023.
As the community task force spent the first few months of this year exploring possible options for right-sizing Green Bay’s school district, Lisa Kardish was surprised to hear Leonardo da Vinci School for Gifted Learners was on the chopping block.
“I was shocked, and I was shocked even beyond the financials just because if you’ve ever walked the halls, if you’ve ever been in the classrooms, if you’ve ever been in the common spaces, it is incredibly modern.”
The open records request shows da Vinci had the third most financial investment out of all district buildings over the past 10 years. More than $10.2 million dollars was spent to purchase the building in 2014 and renovate it.
“It is very surprising to me based on that data that the district would even consider essentially throwing that money away and throwing that investment away and shutting down the building and shuttering it,” said Kardish.
The community task force recommended moving da Vinci students to the Webster Elementary building, with the Webster students largely moving to a repurposed Langlade Elementary.
The task force based its recommendations largely on a district-hired architect company’s facility and education adequacy score for each school.
Da Vinci’s building had the fifth worst score out of 38 buildings. Ten of the 11 schools recommended to close ranked in the bottom 20. Washington Middle School tied for 13th of the 38.
“Throughout the process, no school was targeted specifically for closure, remodel or redistricting for any reason other than adaptability, capacity and location,” community taskforce member Reed Welsh told the school board during a recommendation presentation on May 8.
As for the investments made in the past 10 years, after da Vinci, Washington had the second highest investment for schools recommended to close at $3.7 million. At least 13 other schools had more money invested into their buildings over the past decade.
The records request also lists $6.6 million in investments into the district office building on Broadway. District officials say it is possible some of those investments are listed as going to the district office building but might have went to other buildings in the district.
FOX 11 wanted to ask district officials why it makes sense to consider closing some of these buildings that have seen millions of dollars in recent investments. Communications Director Lori Blakeslee says it would be premature to discuss that considering the school board only identified Wequiock as a school to potentially close. She also said the taskforce’s recommendation was only a starting point for a conversation and might not be where things end.
A statement from the district also reads,
The Board of Education provided guidance to the Facilities Task Force that recent investments should be considered when making its recommendation. The Task Force balanced investments with future costs and the need to reduce overall District capacity. The next step in the process will be layering in additional information to be considered. The Board will again provide guidance to the next task force on how recent investments should be prioritized in relation to other considerations.
“I think it is great they are taking a step back and taking a look at things like equity and looking at what boundary changes, how they will impact different populations,” said Kardish.
Green Bay’s school board passed three motions Monday night that essentially allows discussions to continue on the recommendation to close 11 schools and the district office building:
1. Direct District administration to develop a plan for a capital referendum question and present a project list to the Board of Education by November 1, 2023. The referendum should include:
A new elementary school on the site of Kennedy Elementary School to enable the District to consolidate several west-side schools
Security upgrades at East, Preble and Southwest high schools, Edison and Lombardi middle schools, and Eisenhower and Wilder elementary schools
Modify West High for District offices and/or a distinct location for John Dewey Academy of Learning (West would continue to be a comprehensive high school, grades 9-12)
Address high priority facility projects as recommended by the Facilities Task Force
2. Direct District administration to assess the impact of repurposing Langlade Elementary, McAuliffe Elementary and Franklin Middle to 4K-8 schools to the community, educational pathways and student safety. In addition, the assessment should also consider the recommendation to shift high school boundaries west. The assessment will include contracting a third-party firm to develop boundary changes with the involvement of a task force. This work will include:
Ensuring investments and divestments across the various communities are equitable; boundary revisions minimize change for students, families, and district operations, when possible;
All Board approved educational pathways remain intact;
The resulting school populations are equally or more diversely integrated than present; and
Transportation services are not negatively impacted.
3. Direct District administration to initiate planning activities to close Wequiock Elementary School. The Board would still need to take a vote on whether or not to close Wequiock.
Interim superintendent Vicki Bayer has said the school board must make decisions to address the district’s budget deficit by January.
A fourth motion to initiate planning activities to close Tank Elementary School was tabled at Monday’s meeting. This motion will be discussed at the Board’s June 26 Regular Board Meeting.
Any consolidation decisions would not take effect until after next school year.
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