Apr. 18, 2023 10:30p
(WGTD)---Declining enrollments could mean additional school closures in Kenosha Unified as early as fall of 2024.
KUSD Superintendent Jeffrey Weiss announced the formation Tuesday of a committee that'll work with a consultant to come up with possible scenarios for consideration by the school board. A board vote could be taken before the end of the year. Volunteers to serve on the committee are being sought.
Several months ago, the board voted to close Wilson Elementary on Kenosha's near north side as a way to balance a projected budget deficit for next year.
The move did not lessen the need to close additional schools.
District officials laid out the dilemma at a meeting of several school board committees Tuesday night.
According to a 2025 projection, the district's elementary school enrollment will drop to about two-thirds capacity. Middle schools are expected to be at 60% capacity while the comparable figure for the high schools is around 74%. If nothing changes, a half-dozen schools would be half-empty by 2025.
Weiss said the idea is to save money by avoiding program and service cuts. "The goal is to keep what we offer to students and families as untouched as possible as we go through budgetary challenges," he said. "And one of the ways we can do that is by reducing the number of locations where we offer those services."
The number or the types of schools to be closed weren't discussed. But officials said the exercise could conceivably enable the district to weed out buildings in most need of repair. Some buildings could be mothballed or re-purposed.
Enrollment in the district peaked 13 years ago at around 23,000. That number is expected to approach 17,000 in about eight years. Decreases are due primarily to a lower birth rate. The problem is affecting school districts across the country.
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