Wisconsin Education NewsApril 21, 2026A daily update of education news and events that are taking place around Wisconsin. Register for the Creating a Culture of Excellence for All Conference The conference will highlight the leadership practices essential to building continuous improvement at the school and district levels and will feature sessions by Wisconsin school and district exemplars (June 25-26, 2026, in Madison). View the program here. SDR forest manager presented with Wisconsin School Forest award The School District of Rhinelander has announce that school forest manager Mike Cheslock has been recognized with a prestigious Wisconsin School Forest Award by the LEAF Program for his outstanding contributions to the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom (CAVOC), Rhinelander’s primary school forest. Cheslock was selected for this honor due to his exceptional leadership, vision, and dedication to environmental education. Through his efforts, the Rhinelander School Forest has grown into a model program across the state of Wisconsin. Oshkosh schools to host Shapiro STEM Academy farewell tours OSHKOSH – The community is getting a chance to say goodbye to another of its schools. The Oshkosh Area School District will be hosting a pair of farewell tours for Shapiro STEM Academy next month before the school is closed permanently as part of Phase 2 of OASD’s facilities plan. MPS superintendent reflects on 'challenging' first year in role A little over a year into the job, Superintendent Brenda Cassellius grades her tenure leading Milwaukee Public Schools a B or B+. It's been a challenging first year, Cassellius told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board in April. She took over just as a state audit found the district's central office and finance department in disarray. She needed to clear about 100 MPS buildings of lead paint. And more recently, she learned the district overspent its budget by $46 million last school year. Madison School could change hands for $1 MANITOWOC, Wis. (WFRV) – Just $1 is all it could take for the city of Manitowoc to buy the Madison School property from the school district. This winter, the Manitowoc Public School District board voted to close Madison and Jackson Schools as part of a district-wide realignment plan. School officials said they’re seeing declining enrollment and needed to make cuts to keep their budgets balanced. At their meeting on Monday evening, Manitowoc city alders voted to extend an offer to the district to purchase the Madison property for $1. The city originally gifted the district the land that the school sits on back in the 1950s. La Crosse School Board names new elementary school Hogan Elementary LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) — The La Crosse School Board has officially chosen a name for the district's newest elementary school, selecting Hogan Elementary to honor the educational legacy of the site. The board made the decision during a meeting Monday night, selecting the name for the new school being constructed at the former Hogan Administration Center location. The elementary school will house students from the combined Emerson and Spence elementary schools. Eau Claire schools using new security system EAU CLAIRE (WQOW) - A new security system is being used at all Eau Claire Area School District (ECASD) schools this fall. Safety and security manager Brian Marks said it enables staff to know exactly who is inside school buildings at all times. “With the amount of school violence that takes place, this really is the first step in knowing who is in your buildings, and being able to control the flow of that person if you need to, and to account for them,” Marks explained. Oconto school board approves preliminary notice to cut 3.5 staff positions OCONTO, Wis. (WBAY) - The Oconto school board approved a preliminary notice to cut three and a half staff positions following the district’s failed referendum effort earlier this month, when the community narrowly turned away $1.2 million in each of the next five years. Oconto’s superintendent said several different numbers circulated on social media regarding how many positions could be cut. She confirmed only five positions would be recommended to the board. That number was reduced to three and a half upon final approval. Janesville school district seeks alternative space after Washington Elementary floods MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - The School District of Janesville is working to find alternative space for students after Washington Elementary School flooded Friday. Around 400 students will not be in the classroom this week, and families are looking for help with childcare. The flood submerged the lower level of Washington Elementary School. Additional $3.1M deficit for 2026-27 may force Oshkosh school district to make more cuts OSHKOSH (WLUK) -- Three months after cutting 66 jobs, the Oshkosh Area School District is projecting a roughly $3.1 million deficit. The board voted 4-3 in January to eliminate about 44 staff positions and 22 teachers, which it said would absolve a $5.5 million deficit. In addition to the 66 cuts, the district further reduced its budget by $1.1 million. Local school district receives sustainability award MIDDLETON, Wis. — The Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District was recognized for its sustainability efforts on Monday. The district recently received the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's 2026 Stewardship and Sustainability Award, which honors exceptional leadership in creating green and healthy learning environments. Teacher pay raises; Milwaukee Public Schools, teachers union deadlocked MILWAUKEE - There is a fight over your tax money, and how much of it will go to Milwaukee teachers – and that fight heated up on Monday, April 20. What we know: It is the teachers union versus Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). The two sides are millions of dollars apart. On Monday, for the sixth time, both sides sat at the same table. They are negotiating next year's contract. Since they cannot agree, both sides agreed to go to mediation next week. Riverside Elementary makes plans to learn & heal after Ringle tornado RINGLE – Riverside Elementary School students will start healing together at the Greenheck Community Center April 22 after an EF3 tornado touched down April 17 in the Marathon County town of Ringle damaging the school building. Classes at Riverside Elementary School were canceled April 20 and 21. Casey Nye, the superintendent of the D.C. Everest Area School District, told a Wausau Daily Herald reporter April 20 crews were out Monday performing a structural assessment at the Riverside Elementary School building to determine if there is any significant structural damage at the building. CESA 6 Youth Apprenticeship Awards Honor Three Manitowoc County Partners CESA 6 proudly recognized three outstanding Manitowoc County partners at the Youth Apprenticeship Partner Awards held April 10 at La Sure's Hall. These awards celebrate organizations that demonstrate exceptional commitment to developing the future workforce through hands-on learning, mentorship, and community collaboration. Shiocton schools closed all week over flood safety concerns SHIOCTON, Wis. (WFRV) – After being closed on Monday due to the ongoing flooding situation, the Shiocton School District has announced its schools will be closed all week due to safety concerns. According to a release, the tough decision to close the schools throughout the district, as well as the Child Care Center and the Fitness Center, comes after discussions with the village and the county. Flooding closes schools in Outagamie and Waupaca counties Record or near-record floods in Outagamie and Waupaca counties have disrupted daily life in several communities along the Wolf, Little Wolf and Embarrass rivers, and that includes local schools. Ahead of the weekend of April 16-17, several schools closed or went to digital learning due to the flooding. Some of those impacts are continuing into the week of April 20. Barbee Montessori principal wins 2026 WI Principal of the Year award Catherine Loss' jaw dropped when she learned she had been named the 2026 Wisconsin Elementary School Principal of the Year. The Association of Wisconsin School Administrators announced the award to Loss at a surprise assembly April 8, following a choir performance from kindergarten students at Lloyd Barbee Montessori School. "It was a big surprise," said Loss, who has served as principal of Lloyd Barbee since 2012. "It was pretty exciting, and the kids seemed really happy." MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius says “it would be wonderful” if Wisconsin teachers could again collectively bargain and Act 10 was reversed despite a feud with the teachers union over the district’s projected $46 million deficit. “I’ve always been a supporter of unions and labor,” Cassellius said on WISN 12’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “I think they play a really important part. I actually said to the union I’d want to be one of the first ones to have our contract in place.” Cassellius is proposing a reduction of roughly 260 positions, a majority of those at the district office, alongside delaying raises for teachers to address the deficit. Milwaukee Needs More Teachers - and These Local Programs Might Make the Difference After a decade teaching third grade in Milwaukee Public Schools, Kulbir Sra quit. Why? “Teaching, honestly, wasn’t affordable,” she recalls now, six years later. Sra is far from the only teacher to leave the profession in search of more lucrative opportunities. Metro Milwaukee preschool teachers have a median hourly wage of about $17 or $34,920 annually, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For elementary teachers, who are required to have college degrees, the figure is $70,610. Private school teachers in Milwaukee average $44,000, according to ZipRecruiter data.
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