The Waukesha School District closed schools and downsized its buildings as student enrollment continues to decline — a challenge playing out in communities across the country.
Bethesda Elementary School is one of the schools the district closed this year to save money. Declining student population and enrollment are driving the downsizing, but Superintendent Jim Sebert says that is not the only challenge the district faces.
Sebert has spent a lifetime in education, from student to superintendent, and even wrote a book about it this year. But one lesson he cannot escape these days is that there are fewer students in classrooms.
"So we topped out at about 13,000 kids in 2012 - 2013. Right now we're about 10,600," Sebert said.
Watch: How declining enrollment and birth rates impact Waukesha Schools
The district's long-range planning process found that over a 20-year period, Waukesha lost 25.5% of its student population. Sebert says the downward trend is likely to continue for the next decade and is part of a national trend requiring the district to right-size.
"So we went from 12 elementary schools to nine, and we went from three traditional middle schools to two," Sebert said.
Sebert describes Waukesha as a low-spending district with a per-pupil cost of $11,600, covered by state aid and property taxes — a formula he says needs fixing. He says the district has lost $10.1 million in state aid over two years.
For now, Sebert is focused on managing the district's challenges.
"We feel like we're doing the right thing in terms of paying off our debts, saving our taxpayers a tremendous amount of money on interest, right-sizing our school district in terms of the buildings, and then really maintaining the high quality programs that we have for kids and families," Sebert said.
For parents like Joe Burke, it is all about analyzing the data and asking the right questions.
"What were the student outcomes, all those elements that are critical for success, how are we measuring that as we go through this transitionary period," Burke said.
This story was reported on-air by Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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