- Bellevue is home to over 16,000 people, and growing, but it only has one school within its limits — McAuliffe Elementary, which is part of the Green Bay Area Public School district
- By contrast, Ashwaubenon has its own school district with roughly the same amount of residents, while De Pere has 24,000 residents — and two school districts
- Green Bay Public Schools is considering making McAuliffe 4K-8th grade, instead of its current K-5
- Video shows a Bellevue village trustee explaining that the Village would be open to more schools within its limits
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Christa McAuliffe Elementary is the only school in Bellevue. It's part of the Green Bay Area Public School District, so McAuliffe students leave the village for middle and high school. With the village growing, is it time for Bellevue to get another school?
Bellevue is aging.
"Our median age inside the village is 40.4 years," Village Trustee Jackie Krull said. "In 1990? It was 29.4."
But Krull says there are new people coming in.
"It's projected that there will be over 2,000 new households by the time we get to 2040," she said.
The Village currently only has McAuliffe, but there's a chance it will soon house more students. The Green Bay Area Public School board directed the district to look at making McAuliffe and two other schools 4K through 8th grade, instead of kindergarten through 5th grade.
Green Bay Area Public schools also owns two other plots of land in Bellevue — on Erie Road …
"They own just over 10 acres up there, currently undeveloped," Krull said.
… and on Guns Street.
But at a time when Green Bay schools are consolidating, the district has not shown interest in building on the land — or selling it.
Krull says the village would welcome a new public school — or a private school.
"Even if the Green Bay Area Public School chose to put another school inside of Bellevue, there are sometimes varying opinions on public schools in general," Krull said. "Some may prefer private schools."
The Green Bay Area Public School District is beginning the process of assessing the impact on the community and students, if they choose to repurpose McAuliffe to K-8.
