Find information and ask your questions about the Wauwatosa School District’s Tosa 2075 Task Force here: https://www.wauwatosa.k12.wi.us/page/tosa-2075-task-force

Here is the information sent to the Washington school community from the superintendent:

Hello Wauwatosa Community, 

It is my hope that the start of the school year has been positive and successful for you, your child(ren), and your family. 

As many of you know, this summer, the state legislature and Governor Evers developed the biennial budget for the state of Wisconsin. Despite the state having a historically robust surplus, they have chosen not to adequately invest in public schools. As a result, the Wauwatosa School District – along with many other districts across the state- is now in an unenviable position. We face a shortfall of more than $9M for the 2024-25 school year. 

To address this challenge, we have invited community members to participate in our Tosa 2075 Task Force and explore ways to maintain the standard of education that our Wauwatosa community expects and deserves.  

This summer, District leadership put out a call to community members to join our Tosa 2075 Task Force. More than 60 individuals expressed interest in joining, and we warmly welcomed each of them to engage in this very important work. 

Members of the Task Force have been meeting regularly since July. Meeting agendas, materials and recaps can be found on the Tosa 2075 Task Force web page. We will continue to update the web page as the Task Force continues its work. 

The Task Force will present its final recommendations in spring 2024 for the Board of Education’s consideration, and the Board will have the ability to accept, reject, or modify the Task Force’s recommended approach. 

Although the Task Force has not finalized its recommendations, District leaders felt it was important to maintain transparency through this process and proactively share with our community the conversations and scenarios that are surfacing within the Task Force meetings. Some of these discussions are related to increasing funding in the form of an operating referendum, and others are related to reducing expenditures in the form of scaling down our building footprint and/or increasing class sizes. 

Several scenarios were presented to the Task Force yesterday, which were based on specific criteria, including: 

• Minimizing the number of students impacted by a potential school closure 
• Maximizing savings of deferred maintenance/new school construction costs
• Minimizing transportation costs

As part of these scenarios, the possibility of closing one or more schools was discussed. Among the footprint reduction options being explored is the potential closing of Jefferson and/or Washington Elementary School. 

Please note that there are no plans to close any school at this time.

I recognize that even considering the possibility of a school closing is difficult. This information is challenging to deliver and even more difficult for our community members to process. Unfortunately, the lack of funding that we have received from the legislature means that we must address our budget shortfall immediately and directly. 

We encourage all community members to review the Tosa 2075 Task Force web page, which contains a form that community members can use to provide their feedback and perspectives related to the Task Force’s recommendations. Comments and suggestions will be provided to members of the Task Force. 

When final recommendations are presented to the Board of Education, Board members will hold listening sessions within the community to ensure they are able to collect and consider the perspectives of all community members. This engagement process will begin in May 2024. 

Thank you for your attention to this important update. We will continue to share updates in the coming weeks ahead. Please know that we all share a collective objective to make the Wauwatosa School District an amazing place for all students to grow academically, socially and emotionally. 

Sincerely,

Demond Means, Ed.D.
Superintendent