UPDATE: Dr. Jones Elementary to remain open next year; two-thirds of school's teachers leaving

During a meeting Monday, the Racine Unified School District Board of Education had an item on its agenda to reconsider the closing of the school. No board member made a motion to vote on the item though, so it died, meaning the school will stay open.

“There is no motion. Dr. Jones will not close,” said Board President Jane Barbian.

The RUSD board voted last December to keep the school open for the 2022-23 year, months before it was confirmed that the district’s $1 billion referendum had passed.

However, new information brought the potential closure of the school back to the board.

RUSD Superintendent Eric Gallien said declining enrollment and upcoming staff vacancies at Dr. Jones will create challenges at the school. Gallien also said significant maintenance work is required to keep the school operating.

According to an RUSD administration presentation, the enrollment at Dr. Jones near the end of the 2021-22 school year was 268 students. Next school year’s projected enrollment is 187 students. Also, according to the presentation, 15 teachers will not return to the school in 2022-23, which is about two-thirds of its teaching positions.

Because of those factors, RUSD administration recommended closing Dr. Jones, 3300 Chicory Rd., after the 2021-22 school year.

Dr. Jones will remain open, though, and Gallien and school board members all said the choice to do so was difficult.

“It is never easy to close a school that the children have loved and the families have loved,” Barbian said. “It’s agonizing, and that’s why we’ve gone through so much process as we reinvestigate this decision.”

Dr. Jones serves a large portion of economically disadvantaged students, who made up 86% of the student population in 2020-21. English learners also accounted for 36.9% of its students in 2020-21, according to the state Department of Public Instruction.

Closing the school would have saved RUSD an estimated $2.7 million in the 2022-23 school year.

Before Barbian asked for a motion on the item, board members discussed the factors they were considering on whether or not to close the school.

Barbian said the school district’s financial health was her main concern. She noted that by keeping Jones open, RUSD will likely have to eliminate other teaching jobs.

“My decision is all about the financial pace and the money that can be saved,” Barbian said. “Unfortunately we’re looking at if Dr. Jones stays open and we have to cover that amount somehow, we’re going to lose teaching positions at our other schools.”

Gallien said that the longer the elementary school is kept open, the worse the impact will be when it closes.

RUSD administration has “done everything we possibly can do to keep this (closure) from happening,” Gallien said. “It’s not easy to do, and you definitely want to factor in the effect it’s going to have on families. But what I would like to caution the board on is that if the vote is not moved forward to close Dr. Jones, we’re in essence putting our families in a worse situation down the line. At some point, we’re going to have to make a decision, and whether we do it today or we do it next year, or whenever we do it — the longer we delay this, the worse it becomes.”

Board member Matthew Hanser, who in December supported closing the school, said he would have voted to keep the school open if the board had voted Monday.

“While I did not support, individually, the action of this board in December, I also can’t in good conscience change my vote,” Hanser said. “I realize that it puts us in financial difficulties potentially, but the relationship with our families is much more important to me … We made a commitment to the community, good or bad, in December. I need to stand by that.”