Several Kenosha schools at risk of closure due to budget cuts, declining enrollment

 

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A crowded meeting in Kenosha Tuesday night, where parents, students and teachers of schools that could be shut down at the end of the school year came to make their voices heard.

The Kenosha School Board's facing what a lot of districts are facing right now, and trying to tighten their budget where they can in the wake of declining enrollment. 

Kenosha Unified School District's (KUSD) "right sizing" committee's looking at the dollars that could be saved with restructuring or completely doing away with several schools -- those include elementary schools plus Washington Middle School, Lincoln Middle School and Reuther Central High School.

We met with the parents of students who've struggled to get by in school and ended up graduating with the help they found at Reuther High. 

"And they told me the only option he had to be able to graduate was to come to Reuther," said Yvonne Alba, Reuther parent and alum.

Families say schools being targeted in proposed budget cuts are schools used by Kenosha's most vulnerable, and that's unacceptable.

"So, we've got a lot of kids that come in from middle schools where they've failed all of middle school," said Amanda Bergemann, Reuther 9th grade English teacher.

Reuther's a small school, now sharing this space at 57th and Sheridan with a charter school.

"Reuther gives students that one-on-one time. They need that. They need that," said Nicole Rios, parent of a Reuther High School graduate.

But the low enrollment's why KUSD's looking at shutting it down at the end of the school year.

"This school has been known to be a bad school, a school where kids go that they're pregnant, that they don't learn or they're bad kids -- they're not bad kids. These kids are not bad kids. They learn differently," said Rios.

The group has formed a Save Reuther coalition. A number of them brought their concerns to the board here. 

"The community that they're attacking is the low-income community. You're taking everything from us," said Rios.

"We've got kids with high anxiety, ADHD, kids with special needs, and then a lot of low socioeconomic kids that we're serving," said Bergemann. 

Students are speaking out too, hoping they won't have to lose the only school that's made them feel like they matter.

"Help our school, because we want to stay," said Nariah Hill and Jaidah Johnson, Reuther 11th graders. 

"I feel like they want us to pass our classes instead of like, not caring or what we do," said Johnson.

"I finally gained that sense of confidence. I finally realized who I am today," said J.J. Castro, Reuther 11th grader. 

The KUSD board is expected to be discussing this again on Nov. 29 and is expected to make a final decision about closing schools on Dec. 12.