This is a printer friendly version of an article from the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune. Posted with the permission.
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Posted January 8, 2008
WRACS unveils new plan for schools
Here is the new structure for the Wisconsin Rapids Area Catholic School system beginning in the 2008-09 school year. After closing schools in Rudolph and Nekoosa, these schools remain focusing on these grades:
School (grades to be taught)
Assumption High School (9-12)
Assumption Middle School (6-8)
St. Vincent de Paul (3-5)
Our Lady Queen of Heaven (K-2)
St. Lawrence Early Childhood Center (Daycare and 3-year-old preschool)
Posted January 8, 2008
Two Catholic grade schools to close
By Adam Wise
Daily Tribune Staff
Two local Catholic elementary schools will close at the end of the school year.
St. Philip Elementary School in Rudolph and Nekoosa's Sacred Heart Elementary School will close as part of a new Wisconsin Rapids Area Catholic System reorganization plan announced to about 170 parents and community members Monday night at Assumption High School in Wisconsin Rapids.
"This is not a fun day; this is not a happy day," said Brian Ruesch, WRACS development director. "Stay unified; keep your heads up; this is a very positive thing. We will be very financially better off."
Recently approved by Bishop Jerome Listecki of the La Crosse Diocese, the plan includes moving sixth-graders from St. Vincent de Paul Elementary School to Assumption Middle School and expanding the St. Lawrence Early Childhood Center to children ages 6 weeks and up.
WRACS President Carol Olson said decreasing system enrollment -- 631 students, down from 747 in 1999-2000 -- and increased costs led to the decision to close the two century-old education buildings.
The closures are not a result of Domtar's plan to shut down a local paper mill. Monday's announcement came after about 18 months of research into the feasibility of the school system in its current structure, Ruesch said.
Seventy-five students will be displaced from the two schools. System officials are currently looking at transportation options to Catholic schools in Wisconsin Rapids.
Olson said she's confident few, if any, students will be lost to other school districts due to the closures.
"It's a concern, but parents from both schools have had a strong commitment to Catholic education," she said. "We hope they will keep that in mind."
Olson expects a decision regarding the 2008-09 employment status of staff at the two buildings to be made by spring break.
System Controller Nanci Green said, for the first time in seven or eight years, she doesn't foresee tuition rising for parents next year. Currently, the system debt is at about $1.2 million and projected to be below $1 million by June.
"We are calling up all of you to help us with this new system structure," Green said to parents at Monday's meeting. "To help us make this new system stronger, we have to pull together as a community of one."
If you go
Officials from the Wisconsin Rapids Area Catholic System will host question and answer sessions tonight with parents and community members at the sites of both schools set to be closed. The following are the times.
Sacred Heart Elementary School -- 5 p.m.
St. Philip Elementary School -- 6:30 p.m.