Cudahy School Board approves combining middle and high schools; moving sixth graders to elementary schools

The room watched and waited in silence Dec. 12 as Cudahy School Board member Kari Durr-Castillo contemplated her decision on a motion to approve closing Cudahy Middle School, send the school's seventh- and eighth-grade students to Cudahy High School and sixth-grade students to the district's elementary schools.

Durr-Castillo was emotional, shedding tears as she thought about her decision. Board members Jim Papala and Rhonda Riccio each had already voted no, while board member Crystal Silkwood had already voted yes, meaning the "no" votes were leading, 2-1.

Durr-Castillo then asked for the vote to come back to her.

Board member Laurie Ozbolt voted yes, and board member Chris Galewski voted no. The vote was now 3-2 against the motion.

The vote came back to Durr-Castillo. She remained silent as she weighed the decision.

If Durr-Castillo voted no, the motion would fail. If she voted yes, it would be up to school board president Michael Johnson to break the tie.

Durr-Castillo apologized, but Johnson reassured her, saying, "Take your time."

Durr-Castillo finally blurted out "yes," tying the vote, 3-3. Johnson also voted yes, and the motion passed, 4-3.

During discussion on the plan, Durr-Castillo said she was struggling with her decision, saying she could see both benefits and flaws with the plan. She also said she had wanted more information on the potential costs and how the plan would be implemented. It is uncertain what swayed her to vote the way she did; she did not specify at the meeting, left as soon as the meeting concluded and did not return phone and email messages from a reporter.

Silkwood said merging the middle and high schools and keeping sixth-graders in the elementary schools would benefit the district most financially, with the least change. She also said she received feedback from parents with concerns about Cudahy Middle School's academic performance.

According to Cudahy Middle School's 2021-22 school year report card from the state Department of Public Instruction, the school received a "fails to meet expectations" rating.

Academic lag for sixth-graders moving to middle school

Additionally, Silkwood cited research presented to the board showing academic lagging that tends to happen during the transition time of the sixth grade move to middle school.

In a follow-up email to a reporter Dec. 13, Silkwood explained that research indicates "6th grade was a difficult time for the transition to a middle school ... they were going through a lot with the onset of puberty while also trying to establish connections with students and staff in a new school."

Silkwood referenced an EdWeek article quoting Patti Kinney, associate director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals: “You’re looking at students making a transition during a time when tremendous physical, cognitive, and emotional transitions are going on at the same time. There’s a wide variety of maturation among different children at that level," Kinney said.

Silkwood explained, "Basically, any change of school can cause setbacks but at 6th grade it's particularly bad, due to the onset of puberty at that age. By delaying the transition, they are in an environment in which they are already comfortable so that helps to support them as these changes begin."

Johnson said he's heard from principals in other districts who have said the students in the upper grades at a secondary school don't want to have anything to do with the seventh- and eighth-grade students.

"You're going to reduce the issues just by having the kids be put into (the) high school. Now they don't want to act like goofballs because at high school, they're going to look down on it, and they know it, generally speaking," said Johnson.

Reservations about the plan

Papala opposed the plan, saying he was frustrated the district didn't consider reaching out to the taxpayers through surveys to see what they would have been willing to support through a referendum. He said district voters have never failed to pass a referendum.

Papala also said he had reservations about the space needed for the merger, saying that Cudahy High School was not designed to be a seventh- through 12th-grade school. He also expressed concerns about having the appropriate space for special education services, and the costs of modifying the building.

"I'm saying I'm not ready to support this because we haven't explored some of the other options and given our taxpayers the chance to say yes or no and yes have a plan B if we get to that point," Papala said. "There are other ways on how we could make adjustments in the meantime. ... We heard from our student rep that there's a lot of anxiety about bringing those kids over and that there's going to be some issues that the administration would have to deal with and making a safe space for all of those kids."

In response, Ozbolt said she didn't want to have to ask taxpayers to pay more.

"I certainly don't want to go to the taxpayers and say, 'We had an option where we could have kept your taxes lower, but we didn't want to take that option because we thought it would be better if you paid more.' That's not something I want to say to the taxpayers. From my viewpoint, that's what we'd be saying if we don't move forward with this proposal," Ozbolt said.

Riccio and Galewski shared concerns about costs. "What we have to do is look at the expenses. Where is the money going?" Galewski said.

Putting the plan in motion

The board's close vote means that incoming sixth-graders (current fifth-graders) will remain at their respective elementary schools in the 2023-24 school year. Seventh- and eighth-graders will move to Cudahy High School in the 2024-25 school year.

They will have their own sections in the building, and a seventh- through 12th-grade secondary school will be created.

Cudahy Middle School will close and the building will instead house the district's administrative and recreation offices.

Project will address projected budget deficit and declining enrollment

According to a report written before the meeting by Superintendent Tina Owen-Moore, the district considered the move as a way to address a projected budget deficit and declining enrollment. Owen-Moore said in her report that if steps weren't taken to reduce expenditures, drastic cuts would have to be made and the district would have to plan for a larger operating referendum to address the projected budget deficit in the 2025-26 school year.

The district's current five-year, $11.75 million operational referendum that was approved by voters in April 2020 will expire at the end of the 2024-25 school year.

The report said the district could make additional reductions in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years based on "enrollment demands to reduce the deficit between operating revenue and expenses."

With the move to a secondary school model, Owen-Moore said in her report that the district anticipates saving $1.2 million a year through shared staffing alone and reductions being absorbed through retirements and staff attrition.

"Additionally, there will be cost savings from site-based software licenses, energy costs, supplies, etc. These will be recurring savings year after year, and the merger will make it easier for us to adjust staffing based on enrollment in the years to come. In addition, the middle school building provides the most opportunity for revenue generation and support for community activities," the report said.

Owen-Moore also said in her report that research showed that "reducing transitions between schools leads to increased academic achievement and less bullying."

Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.