School District of Waukesha declining enrollment; 3 schools closed or sold

3 Waukesha School District schools closed or sold

The School District of Waukesha will see a major shakeup at the end of the school year. That is because the Board of Education voted to close or sell schools on Wednesday night, Nov. 12, to help with declining enrollment.

WAUKESHA, Wis. - The School District of Waukesha will see a major shakeup at the end of the school year. That is because the Board of Education voted to close or sell schools on Wednesday night, Nov. 12, to help with declining enrollment.  

Dealing with declining enrollment

What they're saying:

Hours after Wednesday night's marathon school board meeting, time had not healed all wounds. 

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Meghan Eigenbrod is a Bethesda Elementary School parent. 

"Parents are pissed," Eigenbrod said. 

Bethesda was marked for closure in June, removed from consideration, but reappeared in October as part of Option E-1. 

"A lot of people feel very blindsided.  They feel like the rug was swept right underneath them," Eigenbrod said. 

Board's vote

By the numbers:

On Wednesday, the school board voted to close, repurpose or sell Bethesda, Whittier and Hawthorne elementary schools. The district will sell its Pleasant Hill, Saratoga and White Rock campuses. Horning Middle School will become a K-8 STEM school. 

Superintendent Jim Sebert said the plan saves the school district up to $3.7 million a year and reduces overall district capacity by 15%. The ramifications are huge. 

"Approximately 50% of the students in the school district of Waukesha could be in the new attendance boundary," Sebert said. 

Superintendent Jim Sebert

Push back on plan

Dig deeper:

This week, the school district also faced pushback from the League of United Latin American Citizens of Wisconsin (LULAC). The group argues Latino students and families are being discriminated against because of their large populations at Hawthorne and Horning. 

"Those buildings [Horning and Hawthorne] have been closed more from the quality of the building perspective than based on the students that are served in the buildings," Sebert said. 

Superintendent Jim Sebert

Sebert said these cuts are just the beginning. The district could still close more elementary schools or even a high school in the coming years. 

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Again, the impacted schools will close at the end of this school year.