Guest column: How community input will help guide SPAPSD’s future

By Meg Erler

I am currently the President and a member of the Stevens Point Area Public School Board. I am writing this open invitation NOT as the Board President or on behalf of the school board. I am writing this as a community member.

One of the school board’s most important responsibilities is to proactively plan for the future to ensure the long-term financial health and efficiency of our District so that we can continue to support our mission of preparing each student to be successful.

This past year, our District entered into a contract with MDRoffers Consulting to provide us with a report that looks at enrollment, demographics, projected population growth/loss, and housing trends for our area. MDRoffers has provided these services for numerous school districts in Wisconsin and has extensive expertise in helping guide planning efforts around projected student enrollment.

Our school board received a 116-page “Community Change & Projections Report” from MDRoffers at our November Board meeting. You can access the presentation on our District website if you would like to view it. One clear takeaway is that our student enrollment is declining over time, consistent with broader student population trends seen across Wisconsin, the Midwest, and our country.

The study provides forecasts on how many students each of our schools will see within each grade level over the next 15 years. The study predicts that every school within our District will see declining enrollment except for Plover Whiting Elementary School, where the study projects potential over capacity due to the increased housing growth our community is experiencing southeast, south, and east of Plover.

Our District is also seeing larger classes graduate from SPASH, PODS, and CFC (our high schools) than our kindergarten and first grade enrollment, again indicating decreasing enrollment in our District moving forward.

The report shows a community that continues to evolve. Housing patterns, population shifts, and individual family choices all play a role in the future of our District. This requires our School Board to look ahead and to involve the community in helping us to be proactive in planning for the future of our District.

That is why our school board unanimously agreed with the recommendation of MDRoffers to create a 45-member community task force to review in depth the “Community Change & Projections Report” over a series of 9 meetings this year. The task force will include 15 parents with students currently enrolled in the District, 15 community members who don’t have students currently enrolled in the District, and 15 staff members.

The #PointProud Schools 2040 Task Force will study all of the data provided in the MD Roffers Report in great depth, exploring future scenarios such as projected student enrollment, housing patterns, school boundaries, grade alignment, and optimum use of school facilities. The Task Force will also be asked to provide recommendations to the school board by the end of the year as to how our District can plan for the future for our schools and for our community in the face of declining enrollment.

I believe that this is a critical time of decision-making for our District. Please consider applying to serve on this task force so that you can help shape the future of our District. To learn more as you consider participating, please visit www.PointSchools.net/2040.