Nicolet Elementary School in Menasha to close at end of 2021-22 year
MENASHA – The Menasha faculty board voted to near the almost 100-year-aged Nicolet Elementary University on Monday night time.
“It is really served us properly for 98 yrs,” Superintendent Chris VanderHeyden said, but there are several good reasons to close the university.
Just before the vote, VanderHeyden reviewed a 5-component rationale for closing the college, together with declining enrollment, finances considerations, class sizes, format of the making and staffing efficiency.
Despite the multitude of factors, VanderHeyden claimed, the determination was not made frivolously.
College students will end out the 2021-22 school calendar year at Nicolet, but it will not reopen in the fall. Nicolet’s sister school, Jefferson Elementary, which houses kindergarten by 2nd quality college students who go onto third through fifth grade at Nicolet, will continue being open up.
There are not any gives but, but VanderHeyden mentioned the district’s system is to promote the constructing.
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Over the earlier 9 many years, MJSD has lost 500 college students taking complete enrollment from 3,700 to 3,200. VanderHeyden discussed at the meeting that the enrollment has been steadily declining, and there’s no way to know if or when the downward trend may well reverse. However, if there were an uptick in enrollment, the district would have enough place even without the need of Nicolet, he said.
If Nicolet were to be open up future 12 months, there would only be 88 students, so it would not be feasible to have multiple lessons for just about every grade stage. Preferably there would be three to four sections of every grade to satisfy the needs of special schooling students, English learners and even family members with twins who may want their kids in distinctive classes, VanderHeyden described.
With the declining enrollment, the district has also received less funding from the condition. Not working Nicolet would help save the district about $100,000 for each yr in operating prices these kinds of as heating, air conditioning and other utilities.
“This is a fiscally responsible selection for us to make,” VanderHeyden stated.
There are structural concerns with Nicolet that contributed to the selection to near it. For instance, its age will make it tricky to access technology throughout the creating. And there are constrained bathroom services.
Past 7 days, VanderHeyden satisfied with staff members at Nicolet, Jefferson and Butte des Morts elementary schools to chat about how enrollment would shift and exactly where students would go to following calendar year with the closure.
No staff will eliminate their work opportunities as a consequence of the closure. Some team have already resigned or retired, and the remaining will obtain new employment at Butte des Morts, Jefferson or in other places in the district.
The third and fourth graders at present at Nicolet will transfer to Butte des Morts. The present-day second graders at Jefferson that would have been moved to Nicolet future 12 months will stay at Jefferson for third grade. The fifth graders will go onto Maplewood Middle College next yr as standard.
Vanderheyden also satisfied with Nicolet moms and dads previous week. There have been about 20 to 30 mom and dad in attendance.
Mother and father brought up that closing Nicolet will signify closing each individual college found on Doty Island just after the Neenah Joint School District voted to near Roosevelt Elementary School — its only university on Doty Island — at the finish of the 2022-23 school yr.
Much more:Roosevelt Elementary, Doty Island’s only Neenah general public college, will shut just after future school yr
Nicolet is the Menasha district’s only faculty on Doty Island, positioned at 449 Ahnaip Avenue. In line with the district’s current transportation policies for pupils who are living much too far to walk or who would need to cross unsafe roads, there will be transportation in place for the new enrollment configuration.
At the time of the choice to near Neenah’s Roosevelt Elementary, there was far more than an hour of public remark throughout which Island residents asked board associates to delay the selection when teachers said it is really difficult to teach in the present college. But there were not any public remarks at Monday night’s assembly in Menasha Metropolis Centre.
Access AnnMarie Hilton at [email protected] or 920-370-8045. Stick to her on Twitter at @hilton_annmarie.
