February 11, 2025
Education

School District 95 looks to move to district offices to free up school space

By DAVID LANZAFAME

School District 95 is looking to move its headquarters from the S.E. Gross Middle School building. (Bill Ackerman)

BROOKFIELD – Finding enough space for classrooms has become an issue at S.E. Gross Middle School in Brookfield as the student population continues to expand.

School District 95 officials are pursuing a new location for their administrative offices in downtown Brookfield to free up classroom space, an issue the district has been looking into since November 2014.

According to Mark Kuzniewski, superintendent for School District 95, the school already is straining under what he calls a “population explosion” with new students.

The student population increased by 22 percent in the past six years, and, according to a demographic study contracted by the school district, the population will increase again by 25 to 30 percent within the next five years.

Accommodating a larger student population with limited space means more students in classrooms and makeshift offices for school faculty.

“You’re seeing this trickle-down effect,” Kuzniewski said. “I have to take a classroom and subdivide and split it between two teachers.”

Kuzniewski said staff such as school social workers have been placed in modified offices, including a nook in the library and a converted janitors closet.

According to Kuzniewski, those are not adequate.

“We are getting squeezed on space and we need short-term solutions,” he said. “By moving the district office we can recapture space for classrooms.”

The move also will free up space to create new additions for Gross Middle School.

“The long-term goals are future expansions and renovations,” Kuzniewski said. “Any renovations will require expansion in where the district office now sits in.”

One of the district’s ideas would be to create a cafetorium – a cafeteria that could be converted into a school auditorium for special events – where the offices currently are located.

Kuzniewski said the School District 95 Board of Education is expected to approve the district office’s new location either in an upcoming special session or at their next scheduled meeting Aug. 27.

[ For more information, visit www.district95.org. ]

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