What to know about Green Bay's latest proposed school boundary changes. Only elementary level impacted

Danielle DuClos, Green Bay Press-Gazette
·6 min read

GREEN BAY — After two previous proposals failed to garner community support, the Green Bay Area Public School District is proposing boundary changes only to elementary schools, preserving middle and high school feeder patterns.

It's ditched the possibility of new K-8 sites and is no longer recommending Howe Elementary to close. West High School would also remain a traditional high school. Under previous plans, it was suggested West become a 7-12 while Franklin Middle would convert to a K-8.

Under this newest set of recommendations, called Scenario C, Langlade Elementary would close and those students would move to Doty Elementary. Doty was originally recommended to close by a community facilities task in June 2023 with Langlade becoming a K-8.

Doty would require significant remodeling to accommodate both student populations. It would be dependent on the district successfully passing a referendum. Doty also has $2.1 million in high and medium priority maintenance needs, according to a 2022 report from district consulting firm ATS&R.

In the fall, the district proposed a $150 million capital referendum for April but opted to wait until November after a community survey showed the ballot measure would likely have failed. The referendum amount is likely to change, depending on how supportive the community is of the proposed boundary changes.

The district plans to present a list of projects and their costs to the Green Bay School Board in July, according to district spokesperson Lori Blakeslee.

Along with Doty's remodeling, the district would need referendum funding to build the new elementary on Kennedy's site for Kennedy, Keller and some MacArthur students.

The district plans to present boundary change recommendations to the board June 10, though if any changes are made, they are unlikely to take effect next school year. The board would have to vote on any future school closing or boundary changes. It has already approved closing Keller, Tank and Wequiock elementary schools at the end of this school year along with the necessary boundary changes for those closures.

Here's everything to know about the latest proposed changes, including ways to provide feedback.

Elmore to close, splitting between Chappell and Lincoln

Under the current proposal, Elmore Elementary would close, and students would go to Chappell and Lincoln. Elmore is 79% full, according to the district's boundary consulting firm Woolpert. Moving those students to Chappell and Lincoln would bring those schools to 95% and 96% capacity, respectively.

Elmore students living south of Bond Street would go to Lincoln as well as those living east of Gray Street but south of Velp Avenue. Another section of Elmore students who are east of Atkinson Drive would go to Lincoln. All other students would attend Chappell.

If a referendum passes, Chappell would get a new gym addition. Student demographics would change 5% or less across racial groups as well as socioeconomic status in the two schools, with the exception of the Hispanic population at Lincoln.

The percent of Hispanic students at Lincoln would decrease from 34% to 27%.

Smaller west-side elementary proposed for Kennedy, Keller and some MacArthur students

The district's Boundary Adjustment Advisory Committee supported a smaller school on Kennedy's site with a capacity for 600 students instead of 700. With the smaller school, not all of Kennedy, Keller and MacArthur's students would fit, as originally planned.

Keller was voted to close at the end of this school year with its students moving to Kennedy in the fall. Depending on the successful passage of a capital referendum, all of Kennedy's and Keller's students would attend a new west-side elementary school.

MacArthur students who live west of Packerland Drive would attend the new elementary while those living east would go to King Elementary. While the board hasn't voted to close MacArthur yet, its structural damage has been deemed cost prohibitive to repair by ATS&R. It is very likely to close.

King Elementary, with the addition of some MacArthur students, would go from 69% full to 88%. The new west-side elementary would be at about 80% capacity. Demographics at King would remain largely the same, changing by less than 3% across groups.

The new west-side elementary would have the following demographics:

  • 32% white

  • 13% Black

  • 15% Asian

  • 17% Hispanic

  • 22% other

  • 77% students with free or reduced lunch status

  • 16% multilingual learners

  • 25% students with disabilities

Langlade recommended to close; Doty to be remodeled

Langlade is recommended to close and to consolidate with Doty. However, the school as is could not house all of the students from both schools. It would be at 116% capacity without modifications.

Doty would need significant changes, essentially becoming a new school, according to the district's Chief Operating Officer Josh Patchak.

"It will feel brand new and modern, as opposed to remodeled," he said at the April 30 boundary committee meeting.

Demographics at Doty would shift, especially among the percentage of students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch and those who are multilingual learners. The percentage of students eligible for free and reduced lunch would drop from 73% to 59%. In Wisconsin, a family of four would have to make $39,000 or less a year to qualify for free and reduced lunch, according to the Department of Public Instruction.

The percentage of multilingual learners would drop from half the student population to 31%. The student population at Doty would be 37% white and 63% students of color. Doty and Langlade currently have student populations that are 16% and 62% white and 84% and 38% of color, respectively.

Webster Elementary's boundary would move south, taking Langlade students who live north of Highway 172.

Small part of Sullivan boundary to move to Nicolet and some of Danz to go to Martin

Two smaller changes to east-side boundaries would be a sliver of the Sullivan Elementary boundary moving to Nicolet Elementary. Students living north of Eastman Avenue and east of Barker Avenue would move to Nicolet.

The shift would alleviate a near-full Sullivan, taking it from 97% capacity to 91%. It would bring Nicolet up from 74% to 88%.

Danz Elementary students living south of Deckner Avenue would move to Martin Elementary, bringing Danz's capacity down from 95% to 89% and Martin's up from 77% to 86%.

How to give feedback on the proposed changes:

The district is seeking community feedback on the proposed changes through an online survey in both English and Spanish.

English: www.surveymonkey.com/r/WH528WN

Spanish: www.surveymonkey.com/r/MD56SRS

Find how your household would be impacted by the changes here.

Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at dduclos@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @danielle_duclos. You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Everything to know about Green Bay's proposed school boundary changes