District launches engagement on high school configuration; survey draws thousands of responses

The West Bend School District has entered a formal engagement phase to gather community feedback on potential high school configuration changes, district leaders told the board.

Superintendent Wimmer said the district held a first community meeting on the topic that attracted nearly 50 attendees and that an online survey had received about 2,230 responses as of the morning of the meeting, of which roughly 800 were from students and approximately 1,465 from community members. Wimmer said the survey remains open through Feb. 16 and that the administration plans to synthesize responses for the board in March.

Wimmer emphasized that the configuration conversation is not solely about declining enrollment and that capital improvements to the high school — previously planned in the facilities study — would be needed regardless of configuration decisions. She said engagement with students, staff and families will continue and that any change would be phased and carefully planned to preserve student opportunities, especially athletics and co-curricular pathways.

Trustee Jenkins and other board members noted social media sentiment appears to favor consolidation; Wimmer and staff said outreach materials and survey introductions aim to clarify current program consolidations already in place and to focus attention on preserving opportunities for students.

The board did not vote; the superintendent said she will return with synthesized engagement data in March.