WATERFORD — Some Waterford parents have lingering concerns as a districtwide realignment is now in place for area elementary schools.
Watch: Waterford parents express ongoing concerns over school district’s realignment
This is the first year the Waterford Graded School District has split grades across its three different elementary schools.
Students in 4K through first grade attend Trailside Early Primary, second- and third-grade students go to Woodfield Primary, and fourth- and fifth-graders are at Evergreen Intermediate.
The new structure means families with more than one child may have students attending different schools.
For parent Justina Duffin, that means her two kids will never go to the same elementary school due to their age gap.
“They will never be in the same school,” Duffin said.
Duffin says that’s hard for younger siblings, but it’s also challenging logistically for parents who have to make it to multiple schools multiple times a day.
“There's times that I help other parents pick up their kids,” Duffin said.
For Waterford parent Susan Klug, she is concerned about kids who have learning accommodations.
“Children with special needs need that continuity from grade level to grade level. And they’re not going to get that when they’re switching schools every two years,” said Klug, whose son has ADHD and is adjusting to a new counselor.
Klug reached out to TMJ4 to share these concerns. She and Duffin previously spoke to TMJ4 when the realignment plan was first approved. They say they continue to feel frustrated by the decision and concerned about the potential impact.
Klug said she is worried about decreased enrollment and what that could mean for the community down the road, such as the inability to sustain district services or retain good teachers.
According to the district, 1,332 students are enrolled for the 2025-26 school year. The district had 1,449 students enrolled in the 2024-25 school year.
Waterford Graded School District Superintendent Tony Spence said the decreased enrollment is largely due to a significant difference in size between last year’s outgoing eighth-grade class and this year’s incoming 4K class.
Spence called the realignment a “positive” transition. He said results of a recent parent survey show a majority of parents in the district say their kids are accepted and successful at school and that arrivals and dismissals go smoothly.
The district’s Board of Education President Amanda Fiehweg said in an email, “While there are always some bumps along the way with a major change, our staff have risen to the occasion.” She also noted the positive response to the parent survey.
For the Waterford Graded School District, the realignment plan is here to stay.
“Statewide projections show that declining enrollment is a long-term trend across Wisconsin, so sticking with this stable structure is the best way to ensure sustainability,” Spence said in an email. “It allows us to protect the quality of our education and maintain a great environment for our staff without the disruption of constant changes.”
It’s a decision some are still hesitant about.
“This decision is going to impact this community in the long term,” Klug said.
For Duffin, that means questioning her family’s commitment to the Waterford area.
“We’re second-guessing our choice of setting up shop here due to all the changes the school district has done,” Duffin said.
This comes even as Duffin and Klug applaud their kids’ teachers and the district’s learning environment.
“The school district is exceptional,” Klug said. “We have to keep it that way to maintain a healthy community.”
This story was reported on-air by a journalist 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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