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Schools

White Rock Will Close at End of 2011-12 School Year

Waukesha School Board members praise decision to shutter the school, say it will enhance educational opportunities.

At the end of the 2011-12 school year, will cease to exist.

The Waukesha School Board Wednesday unanimously approved closing the school by the end of the school year in an effort to cut about $450,000 in costs. The district will retain control of the property and leaders will plan possible ideas to repurpose the building.

“This is not strictly a dollars and cents thing,” Board Member Bill Baumgart said. “It’s a way we can do a far better job of delivering bilingual training to our ever-growing Hispanic population.”

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The closure of the school has been discussed for nearly three years as part of a massive restructuring of the district by Superintendent Todd Gray in order to cut operational costs while expanding educational opportunities. While the initial projection is $450,000 in savings, Gray said it’s a conservative figure and the savings could easily double.

Since beginning the restructuring, Pleasant Hill Elementary School has also been shuttered and Randall Elementary School and Saratoga Elementary School have been repurposed into the Waukesha STEM Academy.

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The district has continued to examine new uses for the Pleasant Hill property, which is currently being leased by a private school.  

Although White Rock boasts a very high number of non-native English language speaking students, only one-third of students live within the school’s attendance boundary. By spreading the bilingual programs to other schools, it would enable the district to save money on transportation costs and staffing.

Administrators contented the changes will also allow for a more comprehensive development of dual language programs for both native and non-native English languages speakers, which will help student achievement.

After the closure, the programs will be situated at Blair Elementary School, Banting Elementary School, Bethesda Elementary School and Heyer Elementary School and allow opportunities for English speaking students to learn Spanish starting in kindergarten.

There were 12 citizens in attendance for the meeting, but none of them spoke out in regard to the White Rock issue. White Rock Principal Grace Hess said school families are very receptive to the plan as they’ve seen it’s something that is meant to be best for the students, not the school.

Board President Dan Warren, who was out on district business, wrote a letter to board members saying he supported the closure and the changes it will mean.

When first introduced, the plan was met with heavy opposition from community members, La Casa de Esperanza and some board members, but they have since changed their minds.

Board Member Joe Como said he was leery of the plan when first introduced and received hundreds of phone calls and emails about the topic, but after administration was able to convey information to the public, the community can now embrace the plan.

“For me, this was about one thing,” Como said "This was about 'Can we deliver a better experience to our Spanish speaking population, can we get more students to learn English, not only in an appropriate amount of time, but to keep those English skills with them?'”

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