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Manitowoc superintendent recommends finance committee review $1 city offer for Madison School site
Summary
Superintendent Lee Tennis recommended the district refer a $1 offer from the City of Manitowoc for the Madison School parcel to the finance and facilities committee, citing enrollment decline, demolition cost estimates of $1.44–$1.8 million, and a Fund 46 balance of about $3.1 million; the committee is scheduled to review the offer the next day.
Manitowoc School District Superintendent Lee Tennis urged the district's finance and facilities committee to consider accepting a $1 offer from the City of Manitowoc for the Madison School property, saying the board received the offer April 28 and referred it to the committee for review at a meeting scheduled the next day at 5 p.m.
Tennis framed the request as part of a broader “right‑sizing” effort after the district has lost about 1,200 students since 2001 and continues to operate the same number of school buildings. He told residents the district’s facility advisory group recommended closing two elementary schools, idling Jackson for a year and selling the Madison property, and that the district's real property disposition policy governs any sale.
“We’re in this business called educating kids, not real estate speculation,” Tennis said, arguing that having the city coordinate redevelopment could help attract housing and families back to the district.
Tennis presented three options the district considered: put the building on the market “as‑is” and…
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