Cash-strapped West Allis-West Milwaukee plans school closure

The West Allis-West Milwaukee School District plans to close its Lincoln Intermediate School in an effort to address declining enrollment and make room for programs that will be displaced by the sale of two other properties, the district said Wednesday.

West Allis-West Milwaukee announced this month that it would sell its headquarters building at 1205 S. 70th St. and the West Allis-West Milwaukee Learning Center at 7021 W. Washington St. for $6.75 million to a developer as part of a plan to put the district on a stronger financial footing.

As part of a reorganization plan, three programs now housed in those buildings — the Learning Center, Bridges to Learning and the pilot Next Generation Learning Communities — would move to the Lincoln school site at 7815 W Lapham St.

Lincoln students would move to Lane, Frank Lloyd Wright or West Milwaukee intermediate schools beginning in 2017-2018. And central office staff would be dispersed temporarily to available space throughout the district.

The district will host a public meeting to discuss the plan from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1 at the school to discuss the plan. And the school board is expected to take up the Lincoln consolidation Feb. 6.

The West Allis-West Milwaukee School District has struggled financially over the last decade — first as a victim of an investment scheme gone sour, and later overspending its budget by more than $14 million between 2013 and 2015.

At the same time, its enrollments are declining, reducing the amount of money it can raise from the state and taxpayers. Enrollment has fallen almost 700 students since the 2014-15 school year, to 9,184 this year. And they expect that trend to continue.