Enrollment Solutions

Agenda

• Share survey feedback
• Answer some FAQs (still working on others!)
• Explore multiple alternatives
• Outline next steps

Feedback survey responses

Are you a district employee?: 144 responses, 66% yes, 34% no
If yes, at which school do you primarily work?: 36.2% PHS, 22.3% Horizon, 14.9% Riverview, 13.8% Fairview, 12.8% Parkview
Do your children currently attend one or more of our schools?: 54.2% yes, 45.8% no

What are you excited about?
Staff:
Collaboration
Grade cohort
More even class sizes
Parents/community:
Full-day 4K
Staff collaboration

What concerns do you have?
Staff:
Additional transition for students
Breaking up staff teams
Inconsistency of not including Parkview
Parents/community:
Additional transition for students
Separating siblings
Parent drop-off/pick-up

What additional info would you like?
Staff:
Map of schools with classes laid out
How will this impact childcare?
Why do families leave the district?
Parents/community:
Why not include Parkview?
Why not wait for the new housing?
What are class sizes in all grades?

What other solutions should we pursue?
Re-evaluate elementary school boundaries
Put new families where there is room
Build one big elementary school
Close one school & have 2 elementary schools
Include Parkview & group by 4K-5K, 1-2, 3-4
Move 5th-grade back to elementaries

Frequently Asked Questions

What are class sizes in all grades?
4K: 94 students in 6 classrooms, averaging about 16/class - 14-15-15-15-17-18
5K: 100 students in 5 classrooms, averaging 20/class - 19-19-20-21-21
1st: 103 students in 5 classrooms, averaging 21/class - 18-19-21-22-23
2nd: 126 students in 6 classrooms, averaging 21/class - 18-18-21-21-24-24
3rd: 124 students in 6 classrooms, averaging about 21/class - 19-20-20-21-22-22
4th: 132 students in 6 classrooms, averaging 22/class - 21-22-22-22-22-23

Why do families choose other schools?
Principals have called families whose children attend other schools via Open Enrollment.
Most of these students never attended our schools.
-Some began in another district and wanted to continue there after moving to our area.
-Other parents chose what was convenient for them, based on proximity to child care and/or work.

Why not include Parkview?
Initially there were transportation concerns, but Johnson Bus is committed to finding workable solutions.
Thanks to feedback, we’ve since looked at several alternatives involving Parkview.

Why not just wait for new families?
Immediate impact: The new housing developments have not started.
Future impact: When they do, construction is expected to take years.
While we want to be in a position to react to future increases in enrollment, we have to address declining enrollment now.

Declining Enrollment

Enrollment looking back

2016-17: 2,284
2017-18: 2,265
2018-19: 2,179
2019-20: 2,172
2020-21: 2,072
2021-22: 2,106
2022-23: 2,110
2023-24: 2,008
2024-25: 2,000
2024-25: 1,948
Down 52 students this year; down 336 students in 10 years

Enrollment looking ahead

Our biggest classes have graduated: 187 in 2025, 189 in 2024, 173 in 2023
Incoming 4K classes are much smaller: 94 for 2025-26, 100 for 2024-25, 93 for 2023-24

Impact

To be fiscally responsible, the numbers of classes and staff need to reflect our enrollment.
We want a solution that is proactive, so we can:

• Use attrition to reduce staff when possible.
• Avoid re-assigning students in August.
• Maintain similar class sizes in a given grade.

When we need to reduce a class, it would be less disruptive to go from 6 to 5 than from 2 to 1.

Options

Option A: Current structure
How it might look:
-Continue with 4K-4th grade at all schools
-Continue going from 2 classes to 1 in a grade level as warranted (at 1 or more schools) and reduce that staff accordingly
-Continue to re-assign students to other schools in August to balance class sizes
Option B: Initial proposal
How it might look:
-School 1: Grades 4K, 5K, 1 with 3K and all childcare options
-School 2: Grades 2, 3, 4 with Extra Mile childcare
-School 3: Grades 4K through 4 with Berry Branch & Extra Mile childcare
Option C: Include all 3 schools
How it might look:
-School 1: Grades 4K & 5K with 3K, Mulberry Bush, & Berry Branch childcare
-School 2: Grades 1 & 2 with Extra Mile childcare
-School 3: Grades 3 & 4 with Extra Mile childcare
Option D: Early Learning Center
How it might look:
-School 1: 4K with 3K and all childcare programs
-School 2: Grades 5K, 1, 2
-School 3: Grades 3 & 4

What’s Next?

Scheduled meetings
Follow-up Elementary Staff Meetings:
-Horizon 8am Oct. 27
-Fairview 8am Oct. 30
-Parkview 8am Oct. 31

Community Meeting #2: 5:30pm Nov. 5
Committee of the Whole: 5:30pm Nov. 10

Possible timeline
Regular Board Meeting - Initial Recommendation? 5:30pm Nov. 18
Committee of the Whole - Further Discussion? 5:30pm Dec. 8
Regular Board Meeting - Board Action? 5:30pm Dec. 16

Agenda

• Outlining the challenge
• Enrollment trends
• Remedies already implemented
• Implications of declining enrollment
• Proposed solution
• Advantages and hurdles
• Next steps

The Challenge: Declining Enrollment

2016-17: 2,284
2017-18: 2,265
2018-19: 2,179
2019-20: 2,172
2020-21: 2,072
2021-22: 2,106
2022-23: 2,110
2023-24: 2,008
2024-25: 2,000

Not Just Us

• Birth rate is down in Wisconsin
• Public school enrollment is down in Wisconsin

Prior Remedies

• Natural attrition of staff
• Reduction of sections - One elementary section reduced in 2024-25 & 2025-26
• Reduction of budgets - General supplies, professional development, service contracts
• Marketing efforts - Video testimonial campaign

These may have helped, but …

Implications of Declining Enrollment

• School funding is tied to enrollment - fewer students means less revenue. We currently receive $11,650 per student in categorical aid.
• Revenue Limits have not been adjusted for inflation since 2014-15, leaving many districts increasingly underfunded.
• Result: More than ¾ of districts currently rely on operating referendums to maintain current levels of programming.

Potential Solutions

We want a solution that:

• Maximizes opportunities for students
• Is fiscally responsible
• Can respond effectively to both declining and increasing enrollment - focuses at the elementary level

At this time, we are not proposing:

• Operational referendum
• Closing any schools
• Laying off faculty or staff

One Possible Solution: Elementary Restructuring

How it might look:

• Horizon: Grades 4K - 5K - 1st
• Fairview: Grades 2nd - 3rd - 4th
• Parkview: Grades 4K through 4th

NOTE: This is just a proposal to explore - no decision has been made.

Advantages

• Greater consistency in class sizes
• Greater flexibility adjusting to both increasing and decreasing enrollment
• Efficiency of grade-level staff and resources
• Enhanced collaboration of grade-level staff
• Could allow for all-day 4K

An Example: 2025-26 Second Grade
Class sizes: 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 22
Restructured: 19, 19, 19, 20, 20, 21

Considerations

• Movement of students during first year
• Movement of staff during first year
• One additional transition for Horizon & Fairview students between Grades 1 & 2
• Transportation logistics
• Childcare capacity

What's Next?

Initial Staff Meetings
Fairview: 8am Sept. 24
Riverview: 2:45pm Sept. 25
Parkview: 8am Sept. 26
Horizon: 8am Sept. 29
PHS: 2:50pm Oct. 1

Community Meeting #1: 5:30pm Oct. 8

Committee of the Whole: 5:30pm Oct. 13

Follow-up Elementary Staff Meetings
Horizon: 8am Oct. 27
Fairview: 8am Oct. 30
Parkview: 8am Oct. 31

Community Meeting #2: 5:30pm Nov. 5

Committee of the Whole: 5:30pm Nov. 10
Regular Board Meeting - Initial Recommendation: 5:30pm Nov. 18
Committee of the Whole - Further Discussion: 5:30pm Dec. 8
Regular Board Meeting - Board Action: 5:30pm Dec. 16