GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Green Bay’s school board voted Monday night to close three more of its elementary schools.
MacArthur, Langlade and Elmore are the latest dominoes to fall within the Green Bay Area Public School District (GBAPS). Three additional elementary schools — Tank, Keller and Wequiock — effectively closed when classes wrapped up earlier this month.
One thing the board could agree on was that these decisions were extremely difficult to make.
The seven board members voted unanimously to close MacArthur and Langlade. It was Elmore where there was some debate.
Board member Andrew Becker motioned to delay the vote, saying Elmore was the most full school out of the three schools on the table for closure. The board discussed and ultimately denied Becker’s motion.
As families and supporters of Elmore Elementary sat and watched, the board voted 5 to 2 in favor of closing the school. Becker and Bryan Milz voted against closing Elmore.
“The money savings of closing Elmore don’t justify closing the 79% full neighborhood school, especially without another school maybe as close to it as some of the other scenarios,” Becker said.
Another board member, Kou Lee, offered a different perspective.
“I know it is very difficult. and I read the emails, and I heard the teachers, the parents and concerned citizens about closing Elmore. But I think if you look at all the data, it makes sense.”
The district says the closures will happen no sooner than the 2026-27 school year.
Boundary changes to numerous other schools were also on the agenda for Monday’s meeting. The latest set of recommendations were made by the district’s boundary adjustment committee late last month.
GBAPS is now looking to draft a referendum. Part of that referendum would include building a new 600-student school which would replace Kennedy Elementary. Students from MacArthur would attend that new school.
The district is dealing with a budget deficit between $6 million and $11 million within two years, as well as declining enrollment.
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