Jan. 9, 2024 6:45p; Correction made to the # of Lincoln Middle School students
(WGTD)---Kenosha Unified’s ‘rightsizing’ initiative is moving from the planning to the implementation stage following the school board’s decision last year to close a middle school and five elementary schools because of declining enrollment.
Along with the closures comes a reduction in the workforce. In a brief interview with WGTD last week, Superintendent Jeff Weiss said layoffs are a given. "Attrition is always our first goal and our first hope," he said. "Going into this we knew though that we had to prepare for layoffs and for having to let people know that. So we're prepared to do that."
In addition to the school closures, elementary and middle school boundary adjustments have been made. The district is in the process of contacting parents to inform them of any specific changes involving their children.
The biggest disruption is expected to occur for the 450 or so students who attend Lincoln Middle—the middle school targeted for closure. As part of the early process to achieve a smooth transition next fall, Weiss met with about a dozen community leaders last week.
Another component of the downsizing and consolidation project is making modifications to Edward Bain, which is being converted from an elementary school to a middle school to house Washington Middle School’s enrollment.
A contractor recently toured the building, and Weiss said he’s more confident than ever that most of the major structural changes can be made before the start of the next school year. Details are expected to be presented to the school board in the coming weeks.
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