68 of 72 Wisconsin Counties Face Decline in Public School Students
Decades-long trend has districts across state considering closing, merging schools.
Flynn Elementary School in Eau Claire. Liz Harter/WPR
Wisconsin’s public schools lost 14,087 students this school year, with 68 out of 72 counties experiencing a decline in student enrollment.
The recently released data from the Department of Public Instruction shows Wisconsin public schools lost just under 2 percent of enrollments for the 2025-26 school year compared to the previous year.
It’s part of a decades-long trend that has left districts across the state considering closing or consolidating schools.
According to a Wisconsin Policy Forum Report released in July, by percentages the state’s PreK through 12th grade student enrollment has decreased more than the nation’s as whole in the 21st century — though the gap between Wisconsin and national averages has narrowed since 2020.
From 2002 through 2023, student enrollment declined 7.3 percent in Wisconsin, from 875,592 students to 811,661. That was compared to a 1.3 percent decline nationally during the same period, according to the Policy Forum.
Reasons for the decline are multi-faceted, said Mike Johnson, superintendent of the Eau Claire Area School District.
“I think the factors include lower birth rates and more choices for students,” Johnson said.
In the last two years, two independent charter schools opened in the Eau Claire area. Johnson said that has resulted in 60 elementary school students leaving the district.
DPI released its public school enrollment numbers last week. The state is expected to release enrollment numbers for private and charter schools in the coming weeks.
This year, the Eau Claire school district has 10,533 students, down almost 9 percent from 2019 when there were 12,523 students enrolled. Those declines have budget implications, as state aid to schools is calculated based on enrollment.
“Every year I’ve been superintendent we’ve dropped enrollment,” Johnson said. “In Wisconsin, students equal revenue and we have to be very cognizant every year of our projections.”
Districts look at closures, referendums as enrollments drop
Like many districts across the state, Johnson says Eau Claire might have to consider closing or consolidating elementary schools. He projects that the district will lose 110 elementary students next year.
In Waukesha, the school board voted in November to close Bethesda Elementary and Hawthorne Elementary and sell the Whittier Elementary building. The decision comes after the district’s enrollment declined by 25 percent over the last two decades.
Since the pandemic, Waukesha’s enrollment is down about 15 percent, according to DPI.
In West Bend, Superintendent Jennifer Wimmer says the district has been monitoring an enrollment “bubble” of decline for several years. Those smaller classes are now in high school.
“The anticipated decline is almost complete and stabilization is ahead,” Wimmer said.
West Bend has been working with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Applied Population Lab, which found the district’s enrollment changes are primarily driven by demographic trends, particularly declining birth rates not made up for by new arrivals. The report also notes that kindergarten classes have not replaced the number of graduating seniors in recent years.
Wimmer said this may also be affected by the lack of affordable housing or development in areas within the district.
So far, West Bend hasn’t pursued an operating referendum, Wimmer said, but voters approved a facilities referendum in 2024 that included the permanent closure of two schools, the Early Education Building and the district office building.
Quinton Klabon, senior research director at the Institute for Reforming Government, analyzed the state enrollment numbers.
“Losing students forces tough choices on the educators looking out for our kids and the taxpayers funding our schools,” Klabon said. “”We must attract families and businesses to our great state, or we will never escape the cycle of referenda and layoffs.”
Three counties see growth in public school enrollment
Three counties are seeing more public school enrollments, although one non-traditional school is seeing many more than others.
Burnett County added four students; Richland County added three students and Florence County didn’t add or lose any.
Dane County added 198. The jump came from the McFarland School District, which added 678 students overall, mostly in its virtual high school program.
Sara Cutler, executive director of Wisconsin Virtual Academies, which includes the McFarland virtual high school, said enrollment is growing because Wisconsin families are looking for more than a traditional classroom.
“At our schools we offer a flexible, personalized environment where students can adapt to extenuating circumstances,” Cutler said. “We are proud to offer equitable access to a high-quality, future-focused education that meets students exactly where they are.”
68 out of 72 Wisconsin counties saw a decline in public school students was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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