The Manitowoc Public School District has released a proposed Grade Realignment Plan for city schools beginning in Fall 2019. Under the proposal, Superintendent Mark Holzman says Lincoln High School would house 9th-12th graders, while Washington & Wilson ‘Junior’ Highs are converted to become 6th-8th grade.
Holzman adds the plan calls for the elementary schools to be 5K-5th grade operations. Stangel Elementary students & staff would all move to ‘Riverview’ Early Learning Center, which would become a 4K-5th Grade elementary school. McKinley Academy would move its ‘alternative’ High School & other services into Stangel and the district plans to determine the future of McKinley, a school built in 1891.
The proposal, reviewed and discussed by a district advisory committee of over 50 employees representing each school, reveals that closing McKinley would save almost $400 thousand but may also result in the reduction of school personnel.
Enrollment has decreased from nearly 5500 to approximately 5000 in the last ten years. Lincoln High is one of the last high schools in Wisconsin to serve grades 10-12 having not housed freshmen since 1936. The MPSD has scheduled a community listening session for Tuesday evening May 15th at 7:00 o’clock in the Wilson Junior High School auditorium to gather input & answer questions. Holzman says the Board of Education could take- action on the grade alignment plan at its regular Board meeting May 22th