WC Wisconsin News

A growing number of elected officials of all stripes are banding together to encourage voters to reject the School District of La Crosse's $194.7 million building referendum that is set to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.

"We have people here today on the left, right and center of the political spectrum," county board supervisor David Pierce told the La Crosse Tribune. "This is more about community than politics."

The group of lawmakers from the La Crosse City Council and the La Crosse County Board of Supervisors recently joined organizers of Vote No La Crosse and Pursue a Better Plan at a news conference at Black River Beach Community Center to voice their opposition to measures that include consolidating Central and Logan High Schools into a new facility on Pammel Creek Road and closing the district's three middle school buildings and relocating students to the vacated Central and Logan buildings.

As all the back and forth has played out, critics of the plan point to the planned closure of Logan High School on the city's North Side as being among their biggest objections, arguing the move would essentially amount to a disinvestment in that community.

Yard signs distributed by the group read: "Invest in neighborhood schools, vote no."

Residents also argue closing middle schools across the city and combining the high schools into one could equate to culture shock for many, with La Crosse City Council member and former Logan High School principal Doug Happel adding “it will destroy the North Side. La Crosse isn't a one-high school city; it's a two-high school city."

Finally, county supervisor Joe Konradt, who represents a North Side La Crosse district, argues the school district is misrepresenting the fiscal impact of the plan and taxes for everyone will be significantly higher if the measure becomes law.

"Everybody in La Crosse would pay substantially more in taxes because of this referendum," he said.