GREEN BAY, Wis. — On Monday, the Green Bay Area Public Schools Board of Education voted to close an elementary school.
Wequiock Elementary School will close at the end of this school year. Students from Wequiock will be moved to Red Smith School starting with the 2024-25 school year.
Green Bay Area Public Schools board member Andrew Becker said the unanimous decision to close the school wasn’t easy.
“When we looked at Wequiock, what we saw was a building that was just seriously under-utilized," he said.
Red Smith, he said, was a "logical next school where there was existing room" in the building.
"We’re not having to re-boundry; we’re not having to split lines,” Becker said.
Becker would like to see some of the environmental and nature education at Wequiock moved with students.
A dozen facilities could close in the coming years, as the district aims to reduce its operating costs over the next decade.
“Certainly, without a doubt, there will be multiple buildings that will have to close,” he said. “I’m looking for creative solutions to get maximum utilization out of buildings. Do we maybe not need to close quite as many? That’s a decision I think will deserve an up or down vote."
No matter how many buildings end up closing their doors, countless Green Bay families will be impacted.
Two years ago, Jessica Medina and her family moved to Green Bay. They settled on the far northeast side of the city near Wequiock Elementary School.
“I’m very disappointed. My kids love that school,” Medina said. “We actually just moved up here from Milwaukee two years ago and we heard it was the best school in Green Bay. We [are] actually very sad about it.”
Two of Medina's sons attend the school.
“The oldest one is sad. He’s going to be in third grade this year. He’s worried about his friends. That school goes up to fifth grade, so he was hoping to stay there the whole time,” Medina said. “The little one likes small classes. There were only 12 or 13 kids in his class and now he’s going to go to a larger school with 20-plus kids. It’s going to be a very different change for him.”
Medina said she and other parents are gearing up to make this year special.
“We’re going to make it the best year,” she said. “We already talked about it and they’re going to have a great year.”