Dec. 13, 2023 10p
(WGTD)---Heart-felt comments from students at staff at Lincoln Middle School in Kenosha touched a nerve among some school board members, but they weren’t enough to keep the board from closing the inner-city school as part of a district-wide downsizing plan.
A series of votes made at Tuesday night’s meeting will result in Lincoln’s closure and the closing of five grade schools. Students at Washington Middle School will be moved to one of the elementary schools targeted for closure. Several other schools and programs will be shifted, resulting in eight empty buildings.
Opponents said the district’s minority and low-income populations are suffering the most.
Lincoln 8th grader Jaeden Zamora gave the board a glimpse of what his life is like each morning, after his mother, a single parent, and older sister leave for school and work, and he’s left with having to get his younger brothers--ages eight and six—ready for school. He then walks them to Brass Elementary before heading to school himself. At the end of the day, the process is reversed. Jaeden said he’s not alone in having to shoulder extra responsibilities in a household where both money and time are tight. "Why make their education more difficult by eliminating neighborhood schools?" he said. "We are closing doors and eliminating opportunities for these children."
Lincoln's 450 students will now need to either take a bus or walk longer distances to school.
Later in the meeting, board member Rebecca Stevens thanked Jaeden. "He gets those kids up and gets them to school so mom can work and keep a roof over their heads," Stevens said. "He shouldn't have to worry about that in the wealthiest country in the world," she said.
Stevens recommended that that the board put to the voters a proposal to allow the district to exceed levy limits.
Tuesday night’s board actions are expected to cut the budget deficit for next year by about two-thirds.
With 450 students, Lincoln’s building utilization rate is at 43%.
The new plan calls for the KTEC charter school’s two locations to move to Lincoln, filling it to capacity.
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