Columbus Elementary School in Appleton is seen Dec. 10, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A 130-year-old school in Appleton may be converted into an “alternative education space,” with its regular students being moved elsewhere under a plan being considered by the school board.
Appleton Area School District Superintendent Greg Hartjes believes it’s time for a change.
“Columbus has served as a neighborhood elementary school in Appleton for just under 130 years, and so it has served us well. However, there are challenges that come with trying to educate students in a building that was built in the late 1800s,” he said.
Columbus Elementary School has 79 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The school has a capacity of 135. That’s nearly half the capacity of the neighboring Franklin Elementary, which can accommodate 337 students.
The district believes it is the only neighborhood elementary school with fewer than 150 students among the 20 largest school districts in Wisconsin.
Hartjes says the school is facing difficulties with the small classes, with only six full-time and 19 part-time staff members — and moving to a larger school would create a better atmosphere.
“You would have more full-time staff, you have more student peers in your classes, and so just really trying to get our families to understand the benefits that would come with moving to another location,” Hartjes said.
The 79 students would be sent to Dunlap or Edison schools.
A community information and listening session took place in the school’s gym on Tuesday night.
Parents in attendance said the change feels unnecessary. Traci Schultz went to school at Columbus, and so did her children and her grandchildren. She said the small size has built a close community.
“It’s going to be really sad to send your kids to schools where, I’m afraid they’re going to become more of a number, and overlooked because of the bigger classes,” she said.
Another parent, Phil Leschke, said, “They just redid the playground outside this year, and it feels like that, a lot of that is going to go to waste now that there is not going to be any students here. So I hope that whatever comes in is going to be very much student related.”
Meanwhile, the board also plans to consider changing attendance boundaries so students living south of Wisconsin Avenue and attending Franklin School would instead go to Edison so they do not need to cross the busy street. A meeting on that plan is scheduled for 6:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the multipurpose room at Edison, 412 N. Meade St.
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