Open Letter to the Board of Education, et al. re: School Closings - Sep 20, 2019


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In light of the 2019 School District Budget Issues, and the steps that the Board is taking regarding closing schools as a cost-savings measure, an open letter is being delivered to the following recipients:

 

This letter was composed by more than a dozen citizens who believe the costs of closing three of our schools would far outweigh any monetary savings found by doing so. It was sent to the Administration and Board Members via email on 9/21/19.

Please read the letter in its entirety.

Open Letter to the Board of Education, et al. - Sep 20, 2019

We invite you to share this letter / link with your New Berlin friends and family and contact the School Board and/or attend the September 23, 2019 Board meeting.

The letter is presented here for your reference:

We, the citizens and taxpayers of the School District of New Berlin, value our public schools.

We believe they are essential to strong communities, and in turn a strong America. They educate the children who will become the future caretakers of this world. They create connections while creating community-minded citizens of tomorrow. Our schools draw families to New Berlin, enhancing our property values. The value of a strong and financially sound school district is hard to quantify.

You and your predecessors have spent many years building quality schools and attaining a nationally recognized level of excellence here in New Berlin. It has led to a well-deserved reputation for our community that local realtors know very well. We must do everything possible to protect the level of excellence the District has achieved. 

We write because you continue to consider whether to consolidate and restructure our entire school district by: 

  • Closing Eisenhower High School
  • Closing West Middle School
  • Closing Orchard Lane Elementary School
  • Moving all 5th and 6th graders from Elementary Schools to Eisenhower
  • Moving all 7th and 8th graders to Eisenhower
  • Moving all 9th – 12th graders to West

We ask, “Why”?

“The School Board has confirmed the public’s intent to operate two secondary schools. There are many educational and community interest reasons to do so” (2013 Long-range Facilities Plan, page 17). In 2018, Donovan Group’s Community Survey again confirmed this: our community made it clear that they did NOT want to consolidate high schools.  

Moreover, “ . . . substantial cost savings are not likely to be realized by consolidating the middle/high schools in separate facilities. The most economical option for housing students over time would be to maintain the current grade configurations, channel future enrollment growth to New Berlin West, and, if the pools are to be rebuilt, use the Eisenhower pool for major competitions allowing the New Berlin West pool to remain the in the current location” (IFF Strategic Facilities Assessment, page 32).

If this change is truly advantageous for the District, why wasn’t it contemplated in good times, but only now during a fiscal crisis? It is obvious that our schools are very high performing, so it makes no sense to consider such a major restructuring absent a trigger. The only trigger is the budget crisis, and the goal is to save money. But we believe that premise is fatally flawed and we will explain why.

At the January 7th, 2019 Board Meeting it was reported that consolidation could save the District $900,000 per year, primarily by eliminating duplicate middle school and high school sports teams and music programs. We do not believe this is a realistic number. We believe actual savings would be much lower, especially in the first few years. More importantly, it would not meet the goal of solving the structural deficit during those first years because costs would far outweigh the savings. And, even with projected savings, Dr. Gibson’s analysis (reported 9/4/19) found this major restructuring would only forestall, but not prevent, the need for another referendum.

Once ALL of the costs are considered relative to the even the most inflated savings estimates, it is readily apparent that consolidation simply costs the community too much.

(more)

To read the full letter, please download it in PDF format:

Open Letter to the Board of Education, et al. - Sep 20, 2019

Last Updated: Aug 2, 2021 - Archived on Aug 2, 2021

Checkbox imageThe Undersigned

The following people have signed this letter, which is being sent to the School Board and was presented at the Board Meeting on September 23, 2019. Please contact the School Board and/or attend the meeting and let them know what you think!

 

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Signatures

The following people have signed this letter:

  1. Tamara Adams
  2. Benjamin Ahrens
  3. Kimberly Ahrens
  4. Tara Alauf
  5. Valerie Ambrosh
  6. Tammy Anderson
  7. Amanda Andrews
  8. Shayna Bachmann
  9. Hayoung Back
  10. Kathleen Barnhart
  11. Phil Barnhart
  12. Cathy Bartels
  13. John (Jack) W Bartley
  14. Mary L Bartley
  15. Michael Bartley
  16. Chris Bauer
  17. Sadie Beauchamp
  18. Tyler Anthony Behm
  19. Kerry Behrendt
  20. Mary Belter
  21. Paul Bemis
  22. Nick Berenz
  23. Jodi Bertsch
  24. Matt Bertsch
  25. Jacqueline Biallas
  26. Brian Biscobing
  27. Robert Bishop
  28. Carolyn Bissell
  29. Andy Boerner
  30. Cathy Boerner
  31. David Bokerman
  32. Martha Bokerman
  33. Kate Bosch
  34. Kenny Bosch
  35. Sabine Brackmann
  36. Kristin Bradford
  37. Chris Bretzmann
  38. Jason Bretzmann
  39. Lill Brink
  40. Paul Brink
  41. Kristine Broge-Reynen
  42. Brian Brown
  43. Frank Brown
  44. Jennifer Brown
  45. Michelle Brown
  46. Jill Buchholz
  47. Myra Buelow
  48. Jenni Burgmeier
  49. Jodie Burriss
  50. Amy Bushman
  51. Ron Bushman
  52. Christy Campbell
  53. Ryan Campbell
  54. Stacy Cannariato
  55. Megan Cardenas
  56. Amy Carlson
  57. Kent Carlson
  58. Dana Carpenter
  59. Ryan Carpenter
  60. Heather Carroll
  61. Joseph Carroll
  62. Jessica Castiglione
  63. Cindy Catania
  64. Jim Cefalu
  65. Stacy Cefalu
  66. Yuteng Chen
  67. Nik Clark
  68. Katie Clayton
  69. Susan Corrigan
  70. Guy Couillard
  71. Joyce Crisp
  72. David D’Amato
  73. Jill D’Amato
  74. Trivikram Dasu
  75. Carley Davis
  76. Max Davis
  77. Dennis (Homer) Dawson
  78. Kari Dawson
  79. Andi De Witt
  80. Matt De Witt
  81. Ruth Delaney
  82. Karen DeRome
  83. Austin Dettmann
  84. Katherine Devlin
  85. Derek Dietrich
  86. Joe Dietrich
  87. Arumugapriya Dorai
  88. Sarah Drayna
  89. Amy Dretzka
  90. Erika DuBois
  91. Mark DuBois
  92. Laura Dvorak
  93. Rob Dvorak
  94. Allisen Ehret
  95. Brandon Ehret
  96. Ahmed Elagouz
  97. Dina Elbatiti
  98. Lena Eng
  99. Rebecca Engle
  100. Maryanne Esser
  101. Sara Esser
  102. Susan Felton
  103. Eric Ferguson
  104. Amy Fetherston
  105. James Fetherston
  106. Chad Fields
  107. Melissa Fields
  108. Jennifer Fiene
  109. Mike Fiene
  110. Jan Filipowicz
  111. Jennifer Fisher
  112. Tricia Fitzpatrick
  113. Kristina Florentine
  114. Joy Forberg
  115. Nicole Forester
  116. Carol Fowler
  117. Chris Fowler
  118. Jennifer Freund
  119. Eric Fuehrer
  120. Kristin Fuehrer
  121. Ryan Fuerst
  122. C. Sky Fuller
  123. Jennifer Gaido
  124. Pavani Ganta
  125. Andrew Gasiorowski
  126. Sarah Gasiorowski
  127. Elaine Gearheart
  128. Lynda Gearheart
  129. Richard Gearheart II
  130. Crystal Gehl
  131. Jennifer Geurts
  132. Marjorie Gibbons
  133. Jeff Gilgenbach
  134. Kerry Gilgenbach
  135. Debbie A Gillard
  136. Mike Gillard
  137. Derek Glascock
  138. Sonja Glascock
  139. Robin Goff
  140. Elena Goldstein
  141. Jordan Goldstein
  142. Elsie Gonzales
  143. Jeanne Gosetti
  144. ReAnna Grabow-Neville
  145. Lockie Grace
  146. Nicholas Grace
  147. Dan Grellinger
  148. Meghann Grosskreutz
  149. Ashley Grube
  150. April Guenther
  151. Andrew Haas
  152. Maria Haas
  153. Sheri Hall
  154. Kurtis Hammitt
  155. Nicole Hammitt
  156. Kristin Hansen
  157. Lisa Harrington
  158. Thomas Harrington
  159. Bobbie Harrison-Vogel
  160. Gretchen Hartung
  161. Alan Hauser
  162. Eileen Hauser
  163. Aleksandra Hebron
  164. Tricia Heil
  165. Rob Heilmann
  166. Jackie Hensgen
  167. Mathew Hensgen
  168. Kathleen Herder
  169. Corey Herman
  170. Lia Herman
  171. Lauren Hinrichs
  172. David Hintz
  173. Joe Hoffmeier
  174. Katie Hoffmeier
  175. Amy hogan
  176. Jeff Hren
  177. Natalie Hren
  178. Timothy Jablonski
  179. Erica Jackson
  180. Debbie Jakubiak
  181. Joseph James
  182. Marcie James
  183. Ivan Jaquez
  184. Kim Jaquez
  185. Carrie Jebe
  186. Erin Jelden
  187. Jason Jendrach
  188. Amy Jentsch
  189. Scott Jentsch
  190. Jennifer Jessup
  191. Sara Johns
  192. Jennifer Johnson
  193. Tamara Johnson
  194. Zachary Johnson
  195. Lisa Jones
  196. Rebecca Jossart
  197. Jean Juds
  198. John Juds
  199. Paula Kabara
  200. Ann Kabitzke
  201. Jenny Kaldor
  202. Michael Kaldor
  203. Bethany Kavanagh
  204. Chiara Keller
  205. Doug Kemstra
  206. Valerie Kemstra
  207. Byung Geun Kim
  208. Joanna kim
  209. Jong Soon Kim
  210. Mijo Kim
  211. Kassia Kisting
  212. Timothy J Kisting
  213. Brad Kitt
  214. Jason Klemstein
  215. Rachel Klemstein
  216. Jason Kline
  217. Karen Kline
  218. Donald Knoblauch
  219. Lisa Knoblauch
  220. Julie Knuth
  221. Patricia Kocchi
  222. Jessica Koch
  223. Kyle Koch
  224. Rebecca Koch
  225. Ryan Koch
  226. Brenda Konczal
  227. Sirisha Konduri
  228. Andrew Konlock
  229. Jessalee Konlock
  230. Jacob Korducki
  231. Melissa Koski
  232. Andrew Kowske
  233. Christine Kowske
  234. Tracy Kraft-Sewell
  235. Daniel Krajewski
  236. Lisa Krajewski
  237. Karen Krammer
  238. Diane Kremkau
  239. Franklin Kremkau
  240. Herman Kremkau
  241. Laury Kremkau
  242. Joe Kreuser
  243. Nicole Kreuser
  244. Michelle Krier
  245. Charlotte Kroupa
  246. James Kruse
  247. Michele Kruse
  248. Amy Kulwicki
  249. Eric Kulwicki
  250. Wes Ladwig
  251. Kelly Lake
  252. Kyle Lake
  253. Erin Lazzar
  254. Mike Lazzar
  255. Junga Lee
  256. Jennifer Lehmann
  257. Joseph Lehmann
  258. Erick Levandoski
  259. Rebecca Levandoski
  260. Zhen Lin
  261. Paul Lockman
  262. Alison Lousier
  263. Eric Madlung
  264. Jennifer Maier
  265. Drew Malkowdki
  266. Beth Strecher Malkowski
  267. Lauren Malkowski
  268. Wane Malkowski
  269. Fidel Mangwiza
  270. Marilyn Manriquez
  271. Ronald T Manriquez
  272. Michael Marciniak
  273. Dan Maring
  274. Jorie Maring
  275. Eric Markofski
  276. Paul Marshalek
  277. Sandra Marshalek
  278. Andrew Martin
  279. Brian Martin
  280. Elizabeth Martin
  281. Linda Martin
  282. Joan Maus-Torpy
  283. Bill McCormick
  284. Rachel McDonald
  285. Dena McDowell
  286. Kate McFarlane
  287. Michael McFarlane
  288. Ashley McKanry
  289. Patric McKanry
  290. Cathleen McKenzie
  291. David McKenzie
  292. Evan McKenzie
  293. LaNette McQuitty
  294. Michael McQuitty
  295. Elissa McRae
  296. Alfredo Medina
  297. Amber Medina
  298. Heidi Meinerz
  299. Scott Meinerz
  300. Jessica Merritt
  301. William Hamilton Merritt
  302. John Mikolajczak
  303. Jodi Miller
  304. Rachel Miller
  305. Yasmin Miller
  306. Sayantani Ghosh Mitra
  307. Cherine Montie
  308. Michael Montie
  309. Jenny Moran
  310. Jennifer Morgan
  311. Kelly Morgan
  312. Chris Motz
  313. Jason Mowry
  314. Kate Mowry
  315. Eric Muehlbauer
  316. Lindsay Nalbert
  317. Rich Nalbert
  318. Chad Neumann
  319. Kelly Neumann
  320. Bryan Neville
  321. Monica Nickerson
  322. Nate Nickerson
  323. Jill Nielsen
  324. Ryan Niermann
  325. Greg Nowaczynski
  326. Charmaine Nunag
  327. Mark Nunag
  328. Denise O’Neill
  329. Mark O'Connor
  330. Kathryn Oelschlager
  331. Diane Olp
  332. Jamie Olp
  333. Sara Olson
  334. Jody Orluske
  335. Paul Orluske
  336. Jeffrey Pahl
  337. Steven Parato
  338. Elvis Parris
  339. Kathryn E Parris
  340. Nicole Patterson
  341. Allison Peaslee
  342. Luke Peaslee
  343. Jessica Pelicaric
  344. Marco Pelicaric
  345. Geraldine Perlberg
  346. Andrew Peters
  347. Beth Peters
  348. Meghan Peters-Garay
  349. Ivy Petrick
  350. Kelly Phillips
  351. Gloria Pinkowski
  352. Liz Plant
  353. Tracy Plecha
  354. Nicholas Ploeger
  355. Rachel Ploeger
  356. Jessica Pommering
  357. Garrett Ponciroli
  358. Kris Ponciroli
  359. Michelle Prei
  360. Krystal Przybylski
  361. Kathy Quandt
  362. Amber Radulovich
  363. Manish Raj
  364. Jessica Redlich
  365. Rose Reichhart
  366. Kristine Reiskytl
  367. Dan Rewolinski
  368. Nora Rewolinski
  369. Alayna Richlen
  370. Brian Richlen
  371. Dorothy Ripley
  372. Wesley Ripley
  373. Chris Romine
  374. Kelly Romine
  375. Joe Roth
  376. Amelia Ruiz
  377. Art Ruiz
  378. Nancy Ruiz
  379. Brent Rupcich
  380. Sunhee Rupcich
  381. Amber Rush
  382. Bryan Rush
  383. Fatma Saad
  384. Jennifer Sadowski
  385. Vasumathy SaiGopal
  386. Beth Sartori
  387. Terry Sartori
  388. Jonathan Schaar
  389. Rachel Schaar
  390. Laurie Schafer
  391. Alison Schaffart
  392. Ray Schaffart
  393. Ashley Schmeling
  394. Judith Schmeling
  395. Robert Schmeling
  396. Christine Schmidt
  397. Ryan Schmidt
  398. Gene Schrom
  399. Lynne Schrom
  400. Susan Schrom
  401. Robert Schueppel
  402. Danielle Sciano
  403. Ryan Sciano
  404. John Scott
  405. Theresa Sebestyen
  406. Sarah Seitz
  407. Anthony Senger
  408. Beth Senger
  409. SaiGopal Sesham
  410. Matt Sewell
  411. Matthew Sewell
  412. Barbara Shanahan
  413. Erin Shaughnessy
  414. Amy Sidello
  415. Meagan Sliga
  416. Darlene Smith
  417. Paula Sockett
  418. Peter Sockett
  419. Dylan Somogji
  420. Lisa Somogji
  421. Peg Speth-Mikolajczak
  422. Amy Sprengel
  423. Robert Sprengel
  424. Tracey Stanislawski
  425. Shannon Stiller
  426. Jenny Stoltz
  427. Rob Stoltz
  428. Frank Stribl
  429. Vicki Strieter
  430. Dan Sullivan
  431. Lisa Sullivan
  432. Ann M Szeflinski
  433. Gregory Szeflinski
  434. Julie Tadlock
  435. Colleen Tadych
  436. Jaime Takahashi
  437. Tiffany Taticek
  438. Amy Tavera
  439. Suzanne Terry
  440. Sara Truex
  441. Charles Tuescher
  442. Sarah Tuescher
  443. Richard Tyacke
  444. Tanya Tyacke
  445. Danielle Van Ramshort
  446. Josh Van Ramshort
  447. Tammy van Sliedrecht
  448. Aditya Veeram
  449. Lori Veley
  450. Aaron Vitale
  451. Laura Vitale
  452. Michael Vogel
  453. Karyn Walker
  454. Lisa Wallen
  455. Laura Walster
  456. Michael Walter
  457. Suzanne Walter
  458. Chris Ward
  459. Erin Ward
  460. Jodi Warhanek
  461. Jenny Warzonek
  462. Brian Watson
  463. Colleen Watson
  464. Janice West
  465. Darrick White
  466. Julee White
  467. Jason Wiese
  468. Emily Will
  469. Cat Willcock
  470. Jill Winkler
  471. Robert Winkler
  472. Kim Wisniewski
  473. Tracy Wisniewski
  474. Joseph Wong
  475. Rebecca Wong
  476. Suyong Yi
  477. Mong Yu
  478. Natalie Zavada
  479. Carissa Zielski
  480. Charles Zielski
  481. Erika Zuehl
  482. Frank Zuehl

NOTE: A group of citizens intend to read this letter into the record at the 9/23/19 Board of Education Meeting.

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