The murky picture surrounding the sale of the former UWWC campus to the Ozaukee Christian School (OCS) has cleared up somewhat, but amidst misinformation a lot of the facts are still unclear.
Here are some points that have become more clear and some that are still murky:
- Price Tag? — What is the real price tag? Is the OCS offer $3 million or $2.7 million? The Cedar Lakes Conservation Foundation (CLCF) has offered a separate $300,000 for unused acres of Kettle Moraine land. Was it included in the deal? It remains somewhat unclear whether that $300,000 is a reduction that benefits OCS.
- Who Are the Donors? — The donors behind the purchase by OCS have not been disclosed, but an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel by Kelly Meyerhoffer in early September shed some light. She reported that Adam Baker, once listed as an OCS board member, made a campaign contribution of $5,000 to Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, who is running for governor. His wife gave $1,000 to Schoemann’s campaign. I Googled Baker and could not find his background. Presumably, he is among the donors. Whoever they are should be public record.
- Voucher Impact — The significance of the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program cannot be underestimated. OCS has been making a handsome profit since state vouchers kicked in starting in 2020 for its revenues. That is also true for its looming competitors.
- One Big Competitor — One powerful competitor for Christian students will probably be the new North St. Augustine Preparatory Academy – referred to as Aug Prep North – on the former Cardinal Stritch University campus in Fox Point. The investment in the new campus has been estimated as $100 million. Its K-12 operation will open next fall. It’s about 30 miles from the UWWC campus
- Money Machines — Some of the choice schools have received voucher money from the state have turned into money machines. OCS has made 40% net income in the last five years. In 2024 Aug Prep South did $50 million in revenues with a net income of $14.2 million, according to its IRS report for the year. That’s a whopping 28% profit margin.
- Voucher Payments — The state voucher payments that go to parents and then to the private schools range from about $10,000 for grade school and to $12,700 for high school per student. Tuition at OCS is now $6,700 for grades 1-8. Tuition is about $10,000 at Aug Prep Academy.
- Community Ownership? — In the Meyerhoffer article, Schoemann said that the OCS offer “addresses 95% of what the community was asking for and allows us to step away.” At a public hearing earlier this month, the preponderance of 287 people in attendance called for continued community ownership of the campus.
- Partisan Politics? — In the same article, Schoemann said that the process of the sale of the campus by the county and the city of West Bend had “turned into something political.” To my knowledge, there has never been a Republican or Democratic Party position on the sale to OCS.
- State Transition Money — There is confusion on how the $2 million transition money from the state should be looked at. An outside consultant had appraised the campus at $5 million in 2024. Schoemann has indicated that $1.5 million of the transition money could be used to upgrade the obsolete electrical systems in the campus building. It is not known whether that expenditure from the transition subsidy was an OCS requirement in the deal cut by Schoemann.
Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann and West Bend Mayor Joel Ongert at the public hearing about the campus.
There is a very low probability that the city and county will reverse their mutual decision to sell their ownership to OCS. Schoemann and Mayor Joel Ongert were looking for an expedient solution and completely disregarded the recommendations of the task force created by Schoemann. That report included a Smart Start Academy – a public college preparatory school — and a community recreation center to use the gymnasium and theater. OCS has made no public commitment to keep the campus open to the public.
In an interesting side development, UW-Stevens Point has decided to relocate its satellite two-year Wausau campus to Northcentral Technical College two miles away in Wausau. The two schools will closely coordinate their offerings for technical and baccalaureate education.
That was essentially the recommendation of the first Washington County Task Force on the future use of the campus in West Bend. A pilot of that consolidation concept in Washington County was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
Did his veto have anything to do with the well-known intention at the time of Schoemann to run for the Republican nomination for governor. We will never know.
